


Lone Wolf

by LeftToWrite 81-83 (left_to_write)



Category: The Professionals (TV 1977)
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M, Family Reunions, Old Flames, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26339269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/left_to_write/pseuds/LeftToWrite%2081-83
Summary: After Susan Grant’s dramatic rescue, the CI5 team have fulfilled their assignment to protect her.Bodie, however, senses there is unfinished business of a different nature and seeks Susan out again.
Relationships: William Bodie/Susan Grant
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	1. Friends Reunited

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a story from 'The Professionals' titled 'Cry Wolf', and is an amalgam of both the TV episode and the short book of the same title.  
> Known for being a rather macho action-packed series, every now and again there was a slightly gentler storyline.  
> This was one of them, and I wanted to develop the budding romance within it because I love the Bodie/Susan dynamic.

Four weeks had passed since the terrifying events at the disused Padley airstrip and the subsequent explanations by Mr Cowley and his team; and Susan Grant had spent almost every waking hour since then trying to make sense of it all. She was a highly intelligent young woman so it wasn't particularly difficult to understand at an intellectual level. The emotional turmoil it brought her, however, was another matter entirely.

Learning that sweet, but enigmatic, Henry Laughlin was not merely a friendly colleague but was, in fact, her birth father was astounding enough, but now for the first time in years a young man had begun to tug at her heart strings, too. Someone very different from most of the young men in her social circle; someone special.

Back in her apartment after a fairly typical day at the office of the charity, "Famine Relief", for whom she worked, Susan kicked off her shoes, poured herself a drink and was about to settle down with a good book to unwind. Just then the phone rang and she approached it somewhat gingerly. Although no longer in danger from the now deceased group of hired thugs who had targeted, harassed and eventually terrorised her as a means of putting pressure on Henry, she nevertheless instinctively flinched a bit at the sound of its peal and lifted the receiver with a degree of caution.

'Hello?' she asked warily. She sensibly never disclosed her name when answering her phone at home, only at work.

'Susan?' asked the voice.

Susan's heart gave a little leap, for this was a familiar voice. But she didn’t take it for granted.

'Yes?' she affirmed hopefully.

'It’s Bodie,' came the friendly, though slightly tentative reply.

'Bodie?!' So it was him! The name erupted from her a tad more forcefully than she would have intended and she hoped he hadn't noticed. He seemed not to have; at least he certainly wasn't put off by it if he had.

'Is everything alright?' she asked, feeling a sudden pang of anxiety after the initial excitement of hearing his voice. For she knew that as much as Bodie had seemed to genuinely like her, she had been, at the end of the day, an 'assignment' to him. It had been his _job_ to protect her, and getting to know her had been a necessary part of that. The discovery that there was also an undeniable chemistry between them was just an added bonus. What if his ringing her now was not a social call, but was to inform her that something related to the Laughlin case had gone awry?

Bodie smiled at the other end. He recognised Susan's tone of voice when she was worried or fearful. Well, after what she's been through, who could blame her, he thought to himself.

'It's fine, Susan, relax. I just … I wondered how you were getting on, that's all,' he reassured her. 'Everything alright?'

He was trying to sound as cheerful and casual as possible, but in truth Bodie was actually quite nervous. During their four weeks apart, he had begun to sense an inner restlessness and he had to admit to himself that she had got under his skin. And now this usually confidant - some might say brash, at times - young man wasn’t even sure whether it was acceptable to contact this attractive young woman on a non-professional basis.

Unlike most of the girls Bodie had known, Susan Grant was classy and self-assured, and all that in spite of the ordeal that Bauer and his goons had inflicted on her. The week or so he'd spent with her had passed all too quickly and even his most active days at work now were unsatisfying by comparison. He missed her. 

Susan sighed with relief. 'Oh yes, I'm fine, thanks. Um, how are you? Still catching the bad guys?' she answered light-heartedly.

Bodie chuckled. 'Yeah, something like that.' 

There was a slight pause before he went on, 'Susan, I was wondering if you'd like to meet up again for a drink some time?' He hoped his question didn't seem inappropriate, since his interest in her now couldn’t be put down to 'work'.

'Yes, I'd really like that.' 

'Good, how about one evening this week after work? If you'd like, we could even go to that Chinese restaurant for a meal again, unless you'd rather go somewhere else?'

Susan could hardly contain her glee and Bodie found his heart was beating pretty heavily as well.

'Oh, that would be lovely,' she replied enthusiastically.

'Are you free on Friday?' he continued. Who knows, with the weekend ahead and he and Doyle not on duty for this one, maybe it could be a late night.

'I could be,' Susan replied, 'though I did think I might go and see Mother this weekend. But I could drive down on Saturday morning rather than Friday evening.'

Bodie remembered his weekend stay at Mrs Grant's fine country home and the calamity he’d prevented at the hands of that wretched intruder, Miller. He also recalled how much Susan's mother seemed to have taken a shine to him, and mused that he wouldn't mind going back there one day. But it would be presumptuous to hope for a social invitation, considering the purpose of his presence there had been solely to protect her daughter. 

Instead, he said, 'That's okay, we can make it another evening. How about Thursday? Or maybe next week if you prefer?'

Suddenly, Susan wanted to see Bodie again very much and didn't want to wait until the following week if she could help it. Thursday was not feasible since it was her colleague Joan’s birthday and the office staff were all taking her out for a drink after work.

'No, Friday is fine, thanks. It's probably best if I drive in the daytime anyway, rather than the evening. The nights are drawing in and it would be getting dark by the time I was on my way.'

Bodie was gratified; that meant he could see her this week and possibly take advantage of the opportunity of her weekend visit to ask after her mother and convey his regards.

'Great! Pick you up at your place about 7:00, then? Or is that too early?'

'No, no, that's perfect; not too early at all.'

'Excellent, see you then. Any problems or change of plans, just give me a ring, okay? You've still got my number?'

Of course she still had Bodie's number! She'd kept his card safely tucked in her purse and had written down his number in her address book for good measure. But she also knew it by heart anyway, having carefully memorised it at the time. 

She was delighted that he still had _her_ number, or at least had taken the trouble to look it up.

'Yes, I've still got it,' she responded, as nonchalantly as possible. 

He wondered if she knew how much that pleased him. He dared to think that was a hopeful sign. After all, since she didn't need his "services" any more, she could have simply thrown away his card and determined to put the whole business behind her and never look back. 

'Good, see you Friday. 'Night, Susan.' 

'Goodnight, Bodie.'

Happily for them both, the next few days passed relatively quickly thanks to the busyness of work.

On the day itself, Bodie was like a coiled spring and Ray Doyle couldn’t help but notice that his partner seemed kind of wound up and distracted that morning.

'Okay, what’s up?' he asked his pal.

Bodie turned sharply and stared at Doyle.

'What do you mean, "what’s up"?' Bodie answered, a touch on the defensive.

'Just what I said. Something's on your mind, I can tell, and a little birdie tells me it's not to do with this case we're working on.' It was a mixture of genuine interest and matey curiosity on Doyle's part.

Despite having grown increasingly close to each other over the years, Bodie felt that the subject of Susan Grant was private and off limits even to Ray.

'Nothing's "up", as you put it,' he retorted, ignoring the raised eyebrows and barely perceptible smirk that was playing around the corners of his partner's lips. 'What’s up with _you_?' he countered.

Doyle was intrigued by his friend's touchiness. 'Nothing mate, I'm fine. I just thought you seemed a bit different today. Girl trouble or something, perhaps?' he ventured.

'No!' Bodie snapped. As far as he was concerned, anything between him and Susan was not an appropriate topic of discussion for two red-blooded males.

'Alright, alright, keep your hair on.' Doyle was sure something was going on with Bodie but he knew not to press it at the moment. The latter grunted in response and looked in the opposite direction.

Just then, George Cowley entered the room and outlined the pair's tasks for the day. Bodie thought he'd have punched his boss if Cowley had cancelled his/their weekend off-duty for anything other than a national emergency, but fortunately nothing of the sort was mentioned. It turned out to be a relatively uneventful day by their standards.

Susan left work in good time and drove home almost giddy with anticipation at the evening (perhaps night?) ahead with Bodie. Bodie, for his part, was like a cat on a hot tin roof underneath his feigned casual exterior. In reality, it would have been difficult to tell which of the two was more nervous at the prospect of seeing the other again for the first time in a month.

In spite of the old adage about opposites attracting, Susan and Bodie actually shared a significant personality trait. Both were fiercely independent, with a demeanour that was poised and cool on the surface, yet which belied an inner capacity for great passion and depth of feeling. Bodie, in particular, could be very intense and although he had indulged in more than a little dallying with the ladies, he was by no means devoid of genuine romantic emotion.

For her part, Susan - possibly due to her genteel, sheltered upbringing and inherently cautious nature - was almost certainly less experienced in the ways of the world. But either way, neither one of them looked upon a potential relationship with the other as anything even remotely approaching a mere fling.

Sitting in front of the mirror at her dressing table, Susan applied the finishing touches to her makeup and brushed her long hair. She had chosen her prettiest skirt and blouse and moderately high heels. An elegant jacket completed the look. Not wanting to risk asphyxiating Bodie with an overpowering pong, she sprayed as little as possible of the lightest fragrance she possessed.

Bodie, who thought that wearing aftershave could be a bit of a hit-and-miss affair and therefore subscribed to the theory of "less is more", splashed his cologne on sparingly too. He did put on a smart shirt, jacket and trousers but didn't bother with a tie. It wasn't going to be that formal, after all.

Bodie's Ford Capri pulled up outside Susan's apartment building at 6:55pm and he glanced at his watch. Eager to see her again, he almost left too early, but his experience of time keeping gave him the discipline to get it right. He alighted from the car, locked it, entered the building and pressed the button for the lift. He was carrying a single red rose like the one he had left on her car the day they met, and hoped she wouldn't mind. She had been slightly miffed when she discovered that their meeting had been contrived and she had been an "assignment."

Looking out of the peep hole in her front door that Bodie had insisted she have installed after the night the gunman nearly killed them both, she was elated to see that it was indeed her date this time and he was very punctual. Beaming at her as she opened the door, Bodie held out the rose for Susan.

'Hello again, Susan. It's good to see you,' he said with warmth.

'Hello, Bodie,' came the reply. Susan felt sure he could see her blush as she held out her hand to accept the rose. 'Wow,' she said almost shyly, 'that brings back memories.'

'Good ones, I hope,' he ventured.

'Oh yes, very good,' she assured him.

'Oh good, that's the general idea. I wasn't sure how busy the restaurant would be on a Friday evening, so I booked us a table for 7:30. I don't suppose they'll mind if we get there a few minutes beforehand, though.'

He knew that 7:30 was a mite early for a Friday night out, but he was aware that Susan would be wanting to get up in good time the following morning to drive down to her mother's in the country, so might prefer not to be up too late in any case. And there was always the hope that he might be invited in for coffee afterwards. Or anything else.

Recalling their frightening experience the last time they dined out when he was nearly mugged and she was spooked by the masked assassin, Bodie had judged it best to go by car to be on the safe side. 

'Okay, I'll just grab my keys,' Susan agreed cheerfully.

The meal was tasty and satisfying, and the ambience congenial. Though not a posh restaurant by any means, they did serve good food, and the two of them enjoyed basking in the pleasure of each other's company again.

Over an array of dishes and the best part of a bottle of wine, they more or less picked up where they had left off.

'So, how have you been since I last saw you?' Bodie asked. 'No more hassles or stalkings, I take it?' He was pretty sure CI5 would have known about it if there had been because both he and George Cowley would have been alerted, but it was a starting point to the conversation.

Susan raised her eyebrows and smiled with an expression of relief. 'No, thank goodness. Nothing like that; everything's been fine.' She looked down for a moment and said quietly, 'I'm not sure I really thanked you properly for looking after me back then. You risked life and limb to save me.'

Bodie refrained from saying, 'all part of the service,' as he had done rather flippantly on that previous occasion at her mother's. Instead, he said with feeling, 'It was my pleasure, Susan.'

She looked up at him and he held her gaze for a few long moments. Susan felt as if she would melt and said quietly, 'Thank you.'

They continued to chat fairly light-heartedly about what they had been up to in the intervening weeks, although naturally Bodie did not divulge anything of a confidential nature with regard to national security or the like.

'Have you seen much of your father?' he asked her.

She hesitated for a split second, thinking momentarily of her adoptive father, before realising he was referring to Henry Laughlin.

'Henry? Yes, I suppose so. I still see him nearly every day at the office, of course. It feels strange to think of him as my father, though,' she mused. 'It turns out mother and he go back a long way. It wasn't an anonymous adoption at all,' she added. 'He's been to her house a couple of times since you were there, and it's been alright. It was a bit surreal to begin with, but it's better now.'

Bodie raised his eyebrows and nodded. 'I can imagine. Well, I probably can't actually, but I do sympathise.'

He had been rather wistful leaving them to get acquainted as father and daughter on that last occasion. He knew then that his role as Susan's de facto bodyguard had come to an end, and it filled him with both satisfaction and regret because it meant he would no longer be spending his days by her side. She had become special to him and he'd begun to feel more than a professional duty of care for her.

When they had eaten all they could manage and finished their coffee, Bodie paid the bill and they walked out into the cool evening air. Turning to Susan with an engaging smile, he offered her his arm which she took gladly.

They were pleased to note that there were no untoward incidents this time and Bodie was able to drive them back to Susan's block of flats without any drama.

Despite taking their time over dinner and fulsome conversation, it was still only 9:45pm when Bodie escorted Susan to the front door of her apartment. There was a moment of shy hesitation on both their parts when Susan smiled up at him, her eyes shining. 'Thank you for a lovely evening. I... I had a wonderful time.'

Bodie's eyes shone as he gazed intently back at her and fixed her with one of his inscrutable smiles. 'I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was good to see you again; I hope we can do it again before too long.'

'Oh yes, please,' came the eager reply.

An air of expectation hung over them as Bodie bent down to kiss Susan. He wasn't sure whether to kiss her on the cheek as he had done the first evening he had taken her to dinner, or whether to kiss her on the mouth as he wanted to. He plumped for the latter and planted the lightest of kisses on her lips. He was rewarded with a very warm and receptive response.

He pulled her in closer to him and she in turn slid her arms around his neck.

'Would you like to come in?' she whispered breathlessly.

Bodie thought she'd never ask. 'Yes, please,' he answered huskily.

Susan let go of him for a moment as she unlocked the door and they glided into the apartment where their arms and lips continued to explore each other hungrily. Emotions and longings that had been suppressed (and perhaps repressed) were finally given free rein and there would be no putting the genie back in the bottle.

Bodie caressed her cheek and smiled tenderly into her eyes. As he stroked her hair, she asked the question he had been longing to hear. 'Do you want to stay tonight?'

'Oh yes,' he groaned, heavy with desire. 'If you're sure,' he added gallantly. 'I know you were planning an early start tomorrow.'

 _What are you doing, you idiot? Do you want to put her off?_ he silently berated himself.

Susan answered him with half-closed eyes. 'That doesn't matter.'

Leading him to her bedroom, they kissed and caressed as they slid onto her bed and undressed each other with trembling hands. Then they gave in to their passion until finally falling asleep in each other's arms.


	2. Weekend in the Country

The light was just beginning to peep through the curtains in Susan's bedroom when Bodie began to stir. He looked at the sleeping beauty in his arms and sighed with contentment. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, he saw that it was 8:02am. Susan had hoped to be on her way to her mother's country home by 9:00am, if possible.

'Time to wake up, darling,' he whispered to her.

Susan stretched a bit and took a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and found herself looking up into her lover's smiling face. Bodie leaned down and kissed her lightly, brushing her nose with his.

'Bodie,' she murmured with pleasure and closed her eyes again.

'Good morning,' he purred, as he proceeded to nuzzle her neck.

'What time is it?' she asked sleepily.

'Just gone eight. Did you sleep well?' He sounded breezy enough but he couldn't help feeling a tinge of disappointment that she would soon be up and then gone for the next couple of days. He would miss her - again.

'I think so. Ugh,' she groaned. 'I don't feel like getting up yet. Isn't that decadent? Still, onward and upward; mustn't disappoint Mother,' she said, with a blend of mock stoicism and dutiful resignation.

Bodie smiled ruefully. 'I know, it's okay. Perhaps we can meet up again next week.'

As he was speaking, an idea came into his head. If Susan was tired, he could offer to take her himself.

'Hey, what if I drive you down, Susan? That way you can doze off in the car and not have to worry about staying alert.'

Susan was nonplussed. 'But it's nearly two hours away, Bodie. I couldn't ask you to do that; and anyway, you must be tired, too.'

'You're not asking me; I'm offering. And I'm not too tired either, although even if I were, last night was definitely worth it.' He was smiling broadly, but also hopefully, because he really wanted the extra time with her.

'Besides, this way I'll get to spend a bit more time with you before you disappear into the wilds of the English countryside.' He was speaking in a jocular fashion but he meant it. He wanted to savour this new relationship. 'How about it?' He stroked her bare arm with his fingertip.

'That's very sweet of you, but I'm not sure how I would get back to London afterwards. I'm afraid the train service is not terribly reliable from there.' She didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but it was a consideration she couldn’t ignore.

'I'll come back for you, of course. I wouldn't leave you stranded there.' To Bodie this was obvious.

Susan was about to protest some more when Bodie silenced her with a gentle finger over her lips. 'It would be my privilege. Really. You know that.'

'Well, what can I say?' Susan was as delighted as she was amazed at his generosity. Another thought then crossed her mind. 'You might want to be warned, though. Once Mother sees you've brought me down, she's likely to invite you to stay. In fact, she'll probably insist on it. So, now's your chance to back out, and I won't be offended,' she offered.

Bodie grinned; he couldn't think of a better outcome than to be invited to stay. 'That wouldn't bother me in the least,' he said with feeling. 'I enjoyed myself when I was there with you, although I wouldn't want to intrude on your time together or presume on her hospitality. And, in case you hadn't noticed,' he added playfully, 'I haven't got a thing to wear.' He raised his eyebrows provocatively and then pulled back the sheet that was covering him, treating her to a flash of his naked and ultra fit body.

Susan squealed with mirth. 'I'm sure we can rectify that. Why don't we call round to your place en route? You can pack an overnight bag and pop it in the boot. And even if Mother doesn't end up inviting you, I shall. You can be _my_ guest. I know that will be alright.' She felt quite chuffed with herself.

'Well, that would be smashing. If you're sure.'

'Of course I am,' she assured him, 'and we'll have a nice big breakfast when we get there, like last time. She and Mrs Bridges will have cooked up a storm.'

Bodie gave her a squeeze. 'Mmm, that sounds fantastic. Thank you; you're on.'

Much as they would have liked to linger in bed a while longer and make love again, time was of the essence, so they consoled themselves with the prospect of an entire weekend together. They got up, showered, dressed and, after a quick cuppa, set off for Bodie's flat by 8:40am to collect his things.

Susan was impressed at how reasonably tidy it was for a bachelor pad, and waited in his living room while he went to his bedroom and threw some stuff into a canvas hold-all. He also effected a quick change of clothing and presented himself with a theatrical twirl.

'Ta da!' he announced with a flourish. 'I am now freshly attired.'

Susan giggled. 'You look very handsome,' she proclaimed light-heartedly, knowing full well that was what he wanted to hear.

'Do I?' he asked, openly and flirtatiously disingenuous.

'Of course.' She was happy to indulge him and play along.

Bodie narrowed his eyes and then raised his left eyebrow in mock sternness. 'As handsome as "Mr Doyle"?'

Ha! So he was a trifle jealous. He never had quite recovered from that throwaway remark of hers about Ray being good looking.

Susan tittered. 'Dear me, you're not still sulking about that, are you? Don’t tell me you're the jealous type?' she teased, with a playful gleam in her eyes.

Bodie caught her by the waist and planted a firm kiss on her mouth. 'You'd better believe it,' he replied, giving her one of his sexiest looks.

She beamed up at him. 'Come on, Bodie. You know I've only got eyes for you.'

His eyes twinkled mischievously as he said with faux indignation, 'So I should hope.'

She looked at him with a sardonic half smile. 'Well, at least _you_ didn’t discover you were just an assignment.' Her eyes and voice held an underlying challenge to Bodie and he acknowledged it.

'Alright, touché,' he conceded. 'Look, I'm sorry Sue, but I was tasked with protecting you. I did also tell you at the time that it was very worthwhile taking care of you and that I could happily make it my life's work; and I meant it.'

He carried on. 'Getting to know you may have started out as a job assignment, but that doesn't mean I didn't have feelings for you, as well.'

Susan gave him an appraising look and nodded. 'Okay,' was all she said in response.

Bodie’s voice softened. 'After all, why else would I have looked you up once the "job" was done? I wanted to see you again.'

'I'm glad you did,' she admitted softly, and then lifted her face to his and kissed his cheek.

Bodie wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He sensed that their newly blossoming romance was already moving towards something considerably deeper than the friendship and mutual desire they’d been enjoying so far.

'I think we'd better get going before Mother starts panicking and calling your Mr Cowley again,' Susan said at last.

Bodie pulled a face and shuddered. 'Heaven forbid. Right, let's go then.'

They headed out to his car, hand in hand, and set off for the nearly two hour journey to Mrs Grant’s.

After approximately half an hour, the motion and hum of Bodie's car lulled Susan to sleep and she nodded off. Fortunately, he remembered the route from the last time and didn't need to stop to consult the map, which might have woken her up.

He glanced over at the dozing young woman beside him and reflected on what a unique person she was, and how much he longed for things to work out with her. He'd found that girls might succumb to his cheeky charm, but those had usually been short lived dalliances on both sides.

Contrary to his image, he was not primarily a seeker of gratification without caring or commitment. He'd been in love twice before, and both women had been killed because of what he did for a living. It almost made him hate his job.

But Susan was in a different league altogether. She was beautiful and clever without being conceited; reserved, though not cold; high class, yet not in the least bit snobbish; simultaneously sheltered and adventurous; independent, but not aloof.

She had been brought up in wealth and privilege, yet he'd witnessed no trace of spoilt behaviour nor detected any hint of entitlement. And her work for the poor and needy was clearly born of genuine compassion and conviction, not condescension or patronage. He guessed that this innate altruism could well have been inherited from her biological father, Henry Laughlin.

In short, Bodie regarded Susan Laughlin Grant as the closest thing to his ideal woman that he'd ever met or was ever likely to, and he felt himself being drawn deeper and deeper into emotional involvement. He fervently hoped that the nature of his job wouldn't end up coming between them as it had done with others, and not just the two who had died.

And if anything or anyone were to threaten his relationship with Susan or, worse still, Susan herself, Bodie knew he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever it took to save her, job or no job.

He cast his mind back to the unhappy breakdown of the relationship between Ray and Ann Holly, another casualty of CI5. In fairness, the circumstances in each case were quite different, and whereas Ann may have had cause to be resentful of CI5, Susan had plenty of reasons to be grateful. Nevertheless, recalling Doyle's anguish made Bodie even more determined to protect what he had with Susan.

At an area some twenty minutes from her home village, Susan woke up with a bit of a start and took a few moments to get her bearings. She looked out the passenger window and recognised where she was, pleased that it wouldn't be far to go.

Bodie turned to her briefly and smiled. 'Feel better for a little kip?'

Susan nodded. 'Yes, thanks. How long was I asleep for?'

'Oh, about half an hour or so. If I'm not mistaken, we're nearly there, aren't we?'

'Mm-hmm, yes,' she agreed.

'That's good. I may need you to direct me soon; I'm not sure I'd remember all the turnings to your mother's estate after we get to her village.'

Susan smiled inwardly at the expression, "your mother's estate." That sounded rather grand, while to her it was just her childhood home. Granted, "home" was an eight bedroomed minor country pile set in four acres of land, complete with a lovely garden that was her mother's pride and joy.

Aloud, she merely said, 'Yes, of course,' and proceeded to take charge of the navigating.

Eighteen minutes later, Bodie's car drew up outside the impressive Grant family home. He was about to toot the horn to announce their arrival, then thought better of it and pulled his hand back. This was a refined country property after all, not a brash London street.

Reading his mind, Susan smiled and climbed out of the car, not waiting for Bodie to walk around and open the door for her. He got out and opened the boot, lifting out her travel case and his hold-all.

'Hello, my darling!' cried Mrs Grant, dashing out of the house and onto the large drive when she heard the car arrive. She gave her daughter a big hug and kiss and then turned to Bodie.

'Mr Bodie! How lovely to see you too,' she exclaimed.

Before her mother could ask any questions, Susan announced that Bodie had been good enough to drive her all the way down from London because he was a nice, protective gentleman.

Mrs Grant chuckled, delighted that the pair were obviously back in touch with one another. She liked Bodie a lot, having taken to him almost immediately when he'd brought Susan down there for her own safety several weeks earlier. As she told them at the time, he reminded her of her late husband.

'How kind of you!' she gushed. 'Can you stay with us for the weekend? You'd be most welcome.'

Susan gave Bodie a look that said, 'see, I told you,' and Bodie nodded respectfully, 'I'd be delighted to, thank you, Mrs Grant. But I don't want to put you to any bother.'

And so as not to let her mother think he had been presumptuous by having brought his overnight bag, Susan chimed in, 'I must admit I'd already invited him, since he was kind enough to insist on giving me a lift. I take it that's alright.'

'Of course it is! I couldn't be more pleased,' she replied with great gusto, 'and it's absolutely no bother. You know how I love company, dear. Now come, bring your things inside and have some breakfast.'

After a large and very satisfying full English breakfast - which was more like brunch as by this time it was almost 11:00am - during which Susan and Bodie fielded her mother's questions about how they came to meet up again, they went for a leisurely stroll around the grounds. That had been the highlight of Bodie's last visit there and he enjoyed it even more on this occasion as he and Susan were unquestionably an item now, and he wasn't having to act as bodyguard either.

As they wandered hand in hand through the rose garden, over the stream, and around the edges of the adjacent fields and woodlands, Bodie spoke first.

'It really is very nice here. Lovely and tranquil, so different from the big city.' _I could get used to this,_ he thought to himself, but didn't dare articulate it at this stage, not even in jest. He certainly didn't want Susan's mother to think he might really be a gold digger after all. Yes, it had been a silly and rather clumsy joke back then, but he saw no point in giving her a reason to suspect it might actually be true.

'How often do you visit?' he added.

Susan sighed. 'Only about once a month or so, I’m afraid.' She knew her mother would like her to come down more often than she did and she felt a bit guilty about it.

'Well, that's not bad,' Bodie answered. 'That's more than a lot of people see their parents.' He was quite impressed.

She shrugged. 'Well, you've seen Mother. She gets lonely here all by herself, apart from Mrs Bridges, who does the cooking, and Mrs Jackson, who cleans. That's partly why she babbles and fusses so much, I expect.' Susan was feeling guiltier by the minute.

'What about your brother, though? How's he getting on these days? Has he sorted out his money troubles yet?' Bodie remembered Neville Grant quite well, including his lack of good manners.

'Who knows? I don't know whether he's been back since that last time when he stormed off in a temper. He hasn't contacted me either, and he wasn't answering his phone when I tried ringing him, so I've no idea what he's up to now.' She rolled her eyes. 'I suppose I ought to try and find out, though, in case he really is in trouble with a heavy mob,' she said, almost as an afterthought.

Bodie made a mental note to look up Neville when he got back to work. If the foolish young man was in debt to a bad crowd, he'd try and do something to help, if only for Susan's and Mrs Grant's sake. He'd prevail on Ray Doyle to help him find out who that lot were and whether they could be "persuaded" to leave Neville alone.

He dropped the subject of Susan's wayward brother and turned back to her. Taking her in his arms, he told her with a sheepish smile, 'I've ... um... got a bit of a confession to make.'

Susan stiffened slightly in his arms as she wondered what sort of bombshell he might be about to drop. _Please d_ _on't tell me you're secretly married with six children or something equally appalling._

Hoping to sound unconcerned, she said lightheartedly, 'Oh yes? I dread to think what that might be.'

Bodie grinned at her. 'Don't worry, it's nothing terrible,' he reassured her. Then he took a deep breath and came out with it.

'It's just ... remember last time when I said I didn't necessarily want to "win the girl"?'

'Yes, you seemed to assume you'd have "no competition".'

The reminder made him wince a bit. 'Well … that wasn't quite true. I did - I do - want to win the girl.'

Susan was relieved and touched, and even a little amused. 'Oh, I knew that all along,' she teased him.

He frowned, confused. 'No, you didn't! Did you?'

She gave a little laugh. 'No, I didn't really. But I'm glad you do.' She felt a bit bashful all of a sudden.

He held her tighter. 'Yeah, I do,' he affirmed.

Susan hugged him back. 'Be careful what you wish for,' she said softly.

'I always am,' came the reply.


	3. Family Matters

The remainder of the weekend progressed in a similar vein. There was a fairly sumptuous meal that Saturday evening - courtesy of Mrs Bridges - before settling down to pore over more of the Grant family albums and home movies. Bodie genuinely didn’t mind the trip down Memory Lane but Susan found it a bit embarrassing. 

It wasn't only what she regarded as the infliction upon him of all those pictures of her and her family through the years that made her cringe; it was her mother's rather plaintive nostalgia and her transparent approval of him. Mrs Grant liked it that Bodie wasn't a "chinless milksop" or "weird Chelsea-ite", and she wasn't too shy to say so. Susan was afraid her mother's candour could end up scaring him off.

When Mrs Grant retired for the night leaving the pair alone downstairs, they snuggled up on the large sofa in the sitting room. Bodie was being put up in the guest bedroom and while neither felt they could (or should) object, they were finding it hard to tear themselves away from each other.

Bodie spoke first. 'You alright?' he asked.

'Yes, fine,' came the positive reply. 'Thanks for being here.' Susan snuggled in closer.

This time there was no offhand "well, it's all part of the service" bravado. 'Where else would I be?' he asked softly.

'I hope it's not been too tedious. Mother seems to think she's found a sympathetic listener in you when it comes to wallowing in nostalgia. I'm afraid she hasn't quite fully recovered from my father's death and, as you can see, still sometimes lives in the past.'

Bodie looked at her quizzically. 'That's understandable. Why would I mind? I think your mother's very nice and the pictures of you are great. I can see that you were always beautiful, for one thing,' he added with a twinkle.

Susan swatted his arm lightly. 'Tsk, stop it, you charmer,' she said playfully.

'No, I mean it.' He gave her a look as if to say "stop doubting me". 'And it's interesting that they didn’t change your name when they adopted you,' he went on. 'I mean your first name; that you've always been "Susan".'

'Oh, I know. Well, I was only three, but still old enough to recognise my own name. They were good to want to shield me from further upset or confusion by letting me keep my identity, a link with my former life. I guess they figured that I had experienced enough upheaval and loss for a small child. The funny thing is, I have no memory of it anyway, nor of my real parents.'

'People rarely remember anything from that young an age,' he assured her.

Bodie wondered idly whether Neville, who must have been a fairly similar age to Susan, had felt resentment of his new sister at the time. In his head he recommitted to finding out what he could about her brother's current situation.

Meanwhile, Susan was lost in a reverie of her own. She drifted off in thought for a moment before coming back to the present. Then she asked him something that had intrigued her for a while.

'What's your first name, Bodie? You've never told me and I've never heard anyone call you by it.'

Bodie was a bit taken aback. 'Well, that's because no one does. I haven't been called by my first name since I was a kid. Only my family ever used it.'

Susan was looking up at him expectantly. He knew he couldn't delay the inevitable, so he bit the bullet and told her.

'It's William. I was named after my father, Bill, though I was never called that. At home I was either William or Will. If you really want to know, I was christened William Andrew Philip. Happy now?'

Susan was astonished. All those great names and he didn't use any of them. 'I like "William". Can I call you that sometimes?'

Bodie groaned. None of his previous girlfriends had ever asked him anything like that, not even the two he had truly loved. His first instinct was to demur, but then it struck him that there was something endearingly intimate about her request.

He leaned over, kissed her gently on the cheek and, although they were alone, whispered in her ear, 'Only in private,' he conceded. 'Okay?'

Then he changed the subject and sighed, 'My biggest challenge now is how I'm going to survive the night without you, especially knowing you'll only be a few feet away. But don't worry, I shall.'

She gave him a look that said "sorry", but he smiled reassuringly in a way that seemed to answer, "it's fine." Rising to his feet, he held out his hand to pull her up, saying, 'Well, we'd better try and get some sleep now.' They switched off the lights and went up the stairs.

When they reached her bedroom door, he took her in his arms for one last kiss before parting company for the night.

Her eyes shone in the half light as she stroked his cheek.

'Goodnight, William,' she murmured softly.

The following day she showed him round the local village and he soaked up some more of the atmosphere. The gracious living exemplified by Susan's family home was undeniably impressive, and while it wasn't exactly representative of the typical rural experience, Bodie enjoyed the contrast with the frenetic pace of The Big Smoke.

Thanking Mrs Grant for her generous hospitality when it came time for them to depart, Bodie handed her the little thank-you gift he had bought for her in one of the village shops and she unwrapped it immediately. It was a silver picture frame and she declared herself delighted with the gift and touched by the gesture.

'Thank you so much, Mr Bodie, how thoughtful. It's absolutely lovely. And it was very kind of you to drive Susan down. I know I shouldn’t fuss, but I can’t help worrying about her at times. It's what mothers do, I'm afraid.'

Susan sighed 'Oh, Mother,' but Bodie smiled graciously and replied that it had been his pleasure. He didn't say that he intended to carry on taking care of Susan, but something in his eyes gave her mother that impression and it pleased her.

She then turned to her daughter and gave her a heartfelt hug and kiss goodbye, and the couple departed.

. 

By the time they arrived back at Susan's apartment, they both felt the need for an early night and even a bit of space to unwind and process everything. They kept the farewells short and sweet.

Bodie insisted on carefully checking every corner of the place to make sure there were no hidden dangers or lurking strangers before he felt comfortable leaving her. The security man in him was deeply ingrained and, combined with the lover in him, absolutely determined to keep her safe.

In spite of her natural independent streak, Susan realised that her need to be rescued several times by Bodie from all those frightening experiences she had recently endured justified his ongoing protective attitude towards her. And his evident affection for her now dissolved her previous dismay at learning she had been "an assignment".

She gazed at him with a warm smile. 'Goodnight, Bodie. Thanks for everything, especially for being such a good sport with Mother,' she said simply. Her eyes had a luminous quality about them that Bodie knew he would never tire of.

Bending down to kiss her, he smiled back and said, 'I loved every minute of it. Thank you for inviting me. After Friday night I wouldn't have wanted to spend the weekend alone.' Then he added, 'I'll call you soon, alright?'

Susan nodded and let him go.

'Where's Bodie, then?' demanded George Cowley as he marched into the CI5 office the following morning and scanned the room. 'He should have been here by now.'

'Um, I'm sure he'll be here soon, sir,' replied Ray Doyle. 'Is there a problem?' he asked, his curiosity piqued.

Cowley went over to where Doyle was sitting and lowered his voice.

'No, not yet; I just wanted to be sure his mind is still on the job. He spent the weekend in the country with Susan Grant, even though that assignment is completed,' he told him. He lowered his voice now, although what he imparted was arguably a touch indiscreet.

He may, of course, have been a tad jealous of Bodie's recent involvement with the Grants. Cowley was taking a bit of a proprietorial attitude towards them due to his own connection with the family. Anthony Grant had been one of his oldest friends and was Margaret Grant’s late husband.

To be fair, Cowley was also well aware of Bodie's Jack-the-Lad reputation and, even though it was not entirely deserved, probably felt vicariously protective of Susan as a result.

'The crafty bugger!' exclaimed Doyle. 'When did that start up again?' he chuckled. He knew that Bodie had fancied the young woman in question and had even appeared to be getting more than a little fond of her. But he didn't know that Bodie had actually been in touch with her since the case had concluded over four weeks earlier. He felt an unexpected stab of resentment.

For his part, Cowley was not amused, and muttered something about its not being funny, and the importance of keeping work and personal life separate.

Just then, Bodie walked in, acknowledged both his boss and his colleagues with a nod and said 'Morning all' in a perfectly innocuous tone of voice.

'Good morning, sunshine. Pleasant weekend?' Ray Doyle chirped. There was a knowing gleam in his eye.

Bodie stared at him. 'Yes thank you, as a matter of fact. It was fine,' he answered warily. 'How was yours?'

'Okay you two, get to work,' interjected Cowley grumpily, making a point of looking at his watch in exaggerated fashion and then back at Bodie. He told them what he wanted them to do that day and then he was gone.

Doyle and Bodie watched him stride out.

'Well, my weekend was so-so,' said Doyle, resuming the conversation with Bodie. 'Pretty unexciting run-of-the-mill stuff. But then, I don't have a splendid weekend retreat in the Home Counties.'

Bodie stared at him. He wondered where that barb had come from. Had Doyle somehow got wind of his weekend at Susan's? Why would it matter anyway? The sarcasm seemed quite gratuitous.

He answered, 'Neither do I, mate. What are you on about? If you have something to say, then just come out and say it,’ he demanded.

'Not at all,' Doyle protested. 'I just thought maybe congratulations were in order on your cushy new life.'

Bodie gave him a withering look. So Doyle had indeed heard something or guessed correctly about the weekend at Susan’s. Well, so what?

'You're off base there, pal. It was just dinner and a lift to her mother's house in the country to save her having to drive, if you must know.'

'Sure, whatever you say.' Doyle wisely decided not to push it any further.

'That's right,' retorted Bodie.

Later, as they sat in Bodie's car outside the door of a nightclub/casino they were watching, Ray apologised.

'Yeah, sorry about what I said earlier. I guess I was just a little intrigued.' And perhaps more than a little envious, but self-awareness is often slow in coming.

Bodie nodded, keeping his eyes on the door. 'Right. Actually, there is something you could do for me. Susan has a brother, Neville Grant, who's in over his head with some heavy people, according to her. I'm going to see if I can find out who they are and if so, whether I can help.

'He's a bit of a prat,' Bodie continued, 'but he's still her brother; he's dim, he's scared, and their mother will probably be getting a little worried about him by now. In my book, he's just a naive fool with a gambling problem, but he's out of his depth. Maybe you can ask around, too, and see if anything useful crops up?'

Doyle didn't like where this was going. He took the view that it was nothing to do with them or CI5. Unless national intelligence or security was involved, the rich could either go to the police or hire their own private detectives.

He sighed and shook his head. 'Oh come on, haven't we got enough on our plates? The Cow was mumbling something just before you came in about not mixing business with pleasure. If he finds out, he might try and put a stop to your "friendship," you know.' He recalled George Cowley's intervention in his relationship with Ann and how it had effectively split them up.

Bodie made a face. 'Listen, Cowley's an old friend of Susan's mother. We were all down there together and you saw them, remember? He's hardly in a position to object. You and I only got involved in the first place because she asked him to look out for Susan as a personal favour. Do you think he's suddenly stopped being _her_ friend after all these years of family chumminess?'

Doyle refrained from commenting that the difference was that Cowley wasn't sleeping with Susan's mother. It was perfectly obvious to him that Bodie and Susan's relationship had progressed beyond the merely "professional" or the platonic. The girl had clearly fallen for his charms; but Bodie's reluctance to even mention it, let alone boast about it, made Doyle wonder if Bodie wasn't taking it rather seriously himself.

'Look, if we can take down some local boys in the process, he'll thank us for it. Two birds with one stone,' Bodie added. Then as an afterthought, he reminded Doyle, 'You got along with the mother, didn't you? Advising her on her roses, wasn't it? I'm sure you'd like to help save her son from the mob?'

Doyle rolled his eyes. 'Very amusing. Look, I'll see what I can find out, but I'm not making any promises, alright?'

'Cheers, mate.'

They sat there drinking coffee from their flasks as they surveyed the scene.

'Why are we staring at that door?' asked Bodie, clearly bored with what he thought seemed like a waste of valuable time when he could be chasing up leads on Neville Grant.

'Word's come down from on high. The place has been taken over by the extended Regan family. Fathers, sons, uncles, cousins, etc running the usual rackets. Not just gambling, drugs, prostitution and money laundering, but suspected gun-running. Cowley only mentioned this today,' explained Ray.

'And it's a job for CI5? Come on, give me a break. They're small fry wannabes. They're not trying to overthrow the government. Why can't the Met deal with them?'

'There's an international connection. Drugs and guns. And Cowley suspects there could be someone in the government on the inside.'

Bodie rolled his eyes. 'Great.' He was more inclined to think this was just the typical bunch of low-rent hoodlums fighting over turf.

Just then, they became aware of a commotion coming from the direction of the club. They could hear shouts from inside the casino and then a thumping noise on the front door, which burst open. Several young men tumbled out as a tussle was in full progress.

'Hello, hello, hello,' said Doyle, pleased to be seeing some action for their hour of passive observation. 'What have we here?’ he asked. 'Looks like a bit of a kerfuffle among thieves. Let's call it in.'

Doyle studied the scuffling men. There were five of them and their voices were angry and aggressive. He noticed that four of them seemed to be picking on one of their number in particular; a fair haired, rather fresh-faced young man.

'What do you think that's about? Family business?'

Bodie focused in more sharply. Something was familiar about this. Then it hit him; the young blond guy was Neville Grant. So these were the yobs to whom he owed money, and they were trying to force him into a car.

He shouted at the group to stop, but two of them pointed their guns at him and Doyle. They were all moving around so much that Bodie didn't want to risk a shootout with Susan’s brother right there in the middle of it. The thugs managed to bundle the wriggling Neville into a vehicle and speed off.

He shouted to his partner, 'Bloody hell! Call it in again, call it in. That's Neville Grant they've got!'

Doyle cursed and R/T'd for assistance. 'This is 4.5 to base. Come in, Control. The incident at the Bellamy Club on […..] Street has turned into an abduction. Firearms visible, handguns spotted. Hostage situation.' He also gave them the registration number of the car.

Bodie then grabbed the mouthpiece. 'Control, this is 3.7. Get me Alpha asap; the hostage in question is known to him. He's Neville Grant, late 20's, fair haired, about 5'11" tall, slim build, wearing a navy blue or possibly black jacket, grey trousers. Urgent assistance required. Over.'

George Cowley's voice came over the R/T and addressed Bodie directly. Bodie filled him in briefly on debt-ridden Neville's run-in with the mob. But a sudden realisation gripped him with a new anxiety. What about Susan? He guessed that she was safely ensconced in her office, but he had to be sure.

'Sir, I'm going to check on Susan at Century House,' he told his boss.

'Good thinking. I'll ring Margaret, I mean Mrs Grant, and see if she's alright. I don't want to alarm her, but on the other hand I think she should be warned.'

Bodie concurred and rang the offices of Associated Charities.

'"Famine Relief", Joan Campbell speaking, how may I help you?'

'Hello, my name is Bodie, I'm a friend of Susan Grant's. Could I speak to her please? I'm afraid it's rather urgent.' Fortunately, Joan had heard about Bodie from Susan, so she took him at his word.

'Oh, I'm sorry, she left a few minutes ago, Mr Bodie. She got a telephone call that seemed to alarm her and she dashed out of the office.'

Bodie's stomach did a flip, but he stayed outwardly calm. 'Do you know where she was going? I don't have time to explain, but it really is very important.'

'I think she just said something about "going home." Sorry.'

'Okay, thanks,' said Bodie and hung up. He rang the number at Susan's apartment but she didn't pick up.

He R/T'd for Cowley again and managed to get hold of him. 'Sir, Susan's not at her office and there's no answer on her home phone. I'd like to go round there and check it out.'

Cowley replied, 'I don't think she's at home, Bodie, at least not at her London address. I've just spoken to her mother and she's headed down there.'

'WHAT?!' Bodie erupted.

Cowley went on. 'Yes, Neville rang his mother, probably under duress, babbling something about collecting money. That's probably where they're headed. Mrs Grant was alarmed and confused, so she rang Susan to ask her advice, and the headstrong girl insisted on going down there, too. I don't think they've any idea how much danger they could be in, Bodie, because apparently Neville didn't warn them. I reckon he was too frightened.'

'Right, I'm going down there now!' Bodie was all fired up and hell bent on getting back to the Grants' place.

Cowley didn't really approve because of the personal involvement, but he knew it was pointless trying to stop Bodie. There was literally nothing with which he could threaten him that would have held the ex-SAS Sergeant back anyway. Besides, he was possibly also the most qualified to carry out a rescue mission.

As for Bodie, his number one priority was to protect Susan or die trying. Sod the protocol, stuff the job; saving her was more important than anything else.

As he let go of the radio transmitter he heard his boss shout, 'I'm getting all our best in for this operation. Doyle, you stay with Bodie and make sure he doesn't shoot up the whole bloody county!'

Then Bodie shoved the car in gear and with a screech of tyres, they were off.


	4. Divide and Conquer

'Well, well, now, you must be the sister. How nice to have the whole family together. Do take a seat.' The tone was supercilious and the smile sinister.

Susan had just walked into her mother's house and was confronted by the sneering voice of one of the men currently holding her mother and brother at gunpoint in the family's sitting room.

She stared with horrified incredulity at the sight of her mother looking pained and tearful, and Neville with his head bowed like a submissive animal.

After taking in the sight of the captive pair, she stared at the four unsavoury men who had invaded their home.

'What's going on?!' she asked, shocked by the scene. 'What are you all doing in our house?' Then she turned to her brother. 'What do these men want, Neville, and why have you brought them here?'

Susan had gleaned from her mother's hurried and garbled phone call that Neville had rung up in a tizz and would likely be haring down to spill the beans about his latest financial vicissitudes in the hope of extracting more cash. She assumed he'd be alone as per usual.

She wondered where Mrs Bridges and Mrs Jackson were and then remembered her mother had said something about Mrs Bridges having the day off to visit her sick sister, and Mrs Jackson not being expected until the following day.

Neville looked thoroughly miserable. 'I didn't bring them here - '

'That's right. We brought him.' This time it was a different lowlife who interrupted Neville.

Susan frowned and looked puzzled. 'But your car,' she said to her brother. 'I thought ... isn't that your car on the drive, Neville?'

'Ah well, we had a little spot of bother back in London,' continued the kidnapper, whose name she would soon discover to be Mickey. 'We didn't want the filth following us after a couple of nosey parkers saw us... negotiating... with your brother, so we thought why not ditch our car and take old Nev's here. After all, it was our car that'd been seen, so no one would be looking for his car now, would they?'

They'd clearly had no idea who Bodie and Doyle were when they witnessed the scuffle with Neville earlier.

The other thing none of them realised was that Neville's family were known personally to CI5 and that his mother phoned George Cowley right after Neville's call to her and her subsequent call to Susan. The vehicle was irrelevant. CI5 knew exactly where they were heading; they just had to get there PDQ.

Making the classic assumption about genteel country villages, the kidnappers figured the most that might happen would be the local police sending some inexperienced bobby round to have a quiet word at the door. After all, Neville had said nothing to his mother about being accompanied all the way home under protest.

They also hadn't really reckoned on the cavalry coming because they hadn't counted on the extraordinary coincidence of the young woman in front of them just happening to be the girlfriend of arguably CI5's greatest "muscle."

That was a mistake Bodie did not intend to let them forget.

Susan drew herself up bravely and said defiantly, 'Well, someone will come looking soon though, won't they?'

'Well, they might, sweetheart, so you'd best be quick in getting your brother to give us what belongs to us and then we’ll be on our way. Neville, tell 'em how much you owe us.'

'Really, it was only a few thousand. I ... I told them I'd get it if I could just have a little more time,' Neville replied, in a pleading tone of voice.

'You said that weeks ago, posh boy. We're tired of waiting. Now there'll be a matter of interest to pay on top,' snarled a stocky one with slick-backed hair.

Mrs Grant thought desperately that it might be worth trying to placate them, so she decided to treat them as human beings. It was a long shot, but it might at least buy the family some time until George Cowley's help would (she hoped) arrive.

She took a deep breath and did her best to sound calm and upbeat. 'Would anyone like a cup of tea? Surely we can resolve this if you'll just give us a chance? I'm sure Neville didn't mean to cheat anyone, he just needed a bit more time to get some money together.'

'Listen lady, we ain't here to make friends. The best thing you can do is cut the small talk and just do what we say,' came the abrupt retort.

'Vince, anyone out there?' asked the same greasy-haired goon to his cohort who was keeping watch from the window. Little did he know that the view from that window didn’t cover every aspect of the approach, namely the lane.

'Not that I can see, Gerry.' Gerry, of the oily coiffure, crossed the room and checked the view himself and turned back, seemingly satisfied.

Vince was the least unattractive of the gang and seemed, so far, to be the least brutish as well. He was evidently the designated lookout.

'Right. Now, lady,' Gerry continued, referring to Mrs Grant, 'where's the safe?'

'Safe?'

'Yeah, the safe.' He clicked his fingers at her impatiently. 'Come on, don't play dumb with us. We've been nice so far but there are limits even for sweet old bats like you.' Gerry's eyes narrowed and he began to take on a more menacing look.

At this point, Susan spoke up and affirmed her mother's words. 'We really don't have a home safe.'

A third yob swivelled his head to look at her and sneered. 'Don't talk to us like we're stupid, girl. A big fancy house like this and no safe? Do us a favour.' Then he began to look more closely at Susan, and a distinct leer spread over his pock-marked face. 'Maybe you'd rather I "persuaded" you to show us where it is?' The threat was unmistakeable and sent shivers up her spine.

Neville finally piped up and, to his credit, did try to defend his sister. 'Leave her alone! She's telling the truth. We used to have a safe but a few years ago my parents had some building work done and the safe was removed.'

'Yes, we took down the wall it was in and we never got round to replacing it.' added Mrs Grant.

'So where do you keep your money and valuables then, lady?!'

'In the bank, where everyone else does!' Mrs Grant blurted out in fear and frustration.

'Well now, that is a problem, isn't it?' said the one who had first "greeted" Susan. Joe was the apparent leader of the group, a tall, lean man with thinning hair and a moustache. He clearly did not buy the Grants' explanation.

'What do you reckon, Mickey, you gonna have to use your powers of persuasion after all?' he asked the human slug who’d been leering at Susan.

'No, please!' cried Mrs Grant. 'We honestly don't have a safe any longer but if you'll just give us 24 hours, I can get you the money from my bank.'

It began to dawn on the gang that if the family was telling the truth about the safe, they could end up being stuck out there with live hostages, but without the money they’d come for. And eventually, of course, the coppers would find them.

'What if two of us take her to the bank now, Joey?' asked Gerry, in the tone of a dumb kid who suddenly thinks he's thought of something clever.

'And have them ambush us on the way out, are you kidding?' snapped Joe. 'No, I say we get what we can from this place and get the hell out of here,' he said. 'For now,' he added ominously.

Turning to Mrs Grant, he said, 'Okay, missus. You go with Gerry here to fetch your jewellery,' and yanked her by the arm to a standing position.

Gerry then pulled her towards the stairs to take her up and make her hand over her valuables.

Mickey, the ogler, continued to stare at Susan. 'Let's take her with us. I'd like to get to know her a little better,' he sniggered lasciviously.

Neville stood up in a futile attempt to protect her, but Joe pushed him back down. 'Don't even think about it, wuss,' he growled, pointing his gun right at Neville's forehead.

Just then, Vince thought he could hear a sound outside and said, 'Wait, everyone shut up! I think I heard something out there. I can't see anything, though.' He craned his neck and looked from one side of the window to the next to get as good as view as possible.

Joe's head spun round. This was definitely sooner than he would have expected. 'What the f-, already?? Dammit, we've wasted enough time here blathering. If anyone turns up, _I'll_ go to the door. Mickey, you keep your trap shut.'

While Gerry was upstairs with Mrs Grant clumsily rifling through a drawer in her wardrobe where she kept her jewellery case and a modest amount of cash, Joey, Vince and Mickey kept waiting for the anticipated knock at the door, but it didn’t come and there was no further sound.

'It was probably nothing,' suggested Vince.

'Someone's gonna have to go take a look.' With an arrogance born of stupidity and relative inexperience, Joe assumed that whoever or whatever was out there could be handled easily enough in this sleepy location. He motioned to Mickey, 'You go. Take a look outside and see if anyone's there.'

Mickey groaned. He was still hoping to stick close to Susan. 'Why can't Vincie go?' he whinged.

'Because I'm needed on lookout, genius,' Vince fired back.

'If I go, I'm taking her with me,' Mickey protested petulantly, tilting his head towards Susan.

'I don't care, just get out there and stop bloody whining,' snarled Joe. Then he turned to Susan. 'But no funny business from you or you know what will happen, sweetheart,' he warned her.

Mickey tugged at Susan's arm and dragged her towards him. 'Right then, sexy. You're coming with me.' With this, he forced her towards the door and, glancing round, stepped outside with her.

That was another mistake.

As the beast was pulling Susan along with him around the front, side and rear of the house, they both heard a small rustling sound in one of the shrubberies. Turning to her, he hissed, 'What was that?!'

Susan shook her head nervously. 'I don't know. I swear.' The look on her face inclined him to believe her.

He kept a grip on her, his eyes darting from left to right all the while.

'Wait here and don't move,' Mickey ordered her. Pointing a gun at her, he gestured what he would do if she disobeyed. Then, he slowly took a few steps towards the dense leafy area where they'd heard the sound. Detecting nothing further, he concluded that it was probably just some small woodland creature, and turned to walk the few paces back to where he'd left Susan by the west side of the house.

She wished she hadn't left the car keys on the hall table when she arrived but rather had put them in her jacket pocket. Now there was no chance of escape. But she wondered whether she might just make it to the phone at the back of the house and summon help, assuming the line hadn't been cut.

Taking a couple of tentative steps backwards in that direction while Mickey was distracted, she suddenly felt a hand over her mouth and, as her body jumped and she started to gasp, she heard a voice saying, "Shh," ever so quietly. It was a man's hand, strong and firm, yet gentle. She instinctively recognised his scent and as he let her turn her head to look at him, he put his finger over his lips.

 _Bodie!!_ Halleluiah! She should have known he would come; after all, her mother had burbled something about talking to Mr Cowley, but everything had happened so fast she hadn't had time to gather her thoughts. But here was her darling Bodie in the flesh, just when they needed him the most. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her life, and that was saying something.

Almost simultaneously, she was also aware of a hard thudding sound in the hedgerow and out of the corner of her eye caught sight of that Neanderthal, Mickey, falling down. As she practically threw herself tighter against Bodie's chest and into his cradling arms, she saw the man she'd recognised as "Mr Doyle" disarm him, knock him out cold, cuff him and then run quickly and stealthily towards her and Bodie.

Stifling tears of gratitude, joy and relief, she told them in a hurried whisper about the three other criminals in the house and how they were threatening to strong-arm her mother and Neville for the money he supposedly owed them.

'Okay love, you'll be alright,' Bodie kept reassuring her in his own hushed tones.

As he cupped her face in his hands, he continued in earnest. 'Now, I want you to come with me while I get you to safety; then I'm coming back for your mother and brother, alright?

'We left the car further down the lane so we wouldn't be heard, but our colleagues should be here any moment as well, to back up Ray and me. We need to be quick; the others in the house will probably be getting suspicious soon when their buddy doesn't report back. Can you manage that, Sue?' Susan nodded in silent assent, almost in a shiver.

'Good.' He gave her shoulders a little squeeze and they ran for the shelter of the trees that lined the lane, darting in and out of their protection until they reached the safety of Bodie's car.

Once there, they could see other vehicles approaching and parking, but without any sirens or revving of engines. Bodie gestured them to stay quiet as he watched George Cowley pull up in his Merc. He delivered his precious rescuee to Cowley for protection and de-briefing, while imparting to his boss what little information he had so far of the lie of the land back at the house.

Then he motioned the three other CI5 Operatives that Cowley had mustered, along with two of the local constabulary's officers, and they raced back up to the house to join his partner.

Susan found it difficult to let go of Bodie, especially as she knew only too well that he could be walking into mortal danger, but really there was no other option. Her mother and brother were still very much in harm's way.

Mercifully, George Cowley was kind and sympathetic towards her, as he had been that time when he’d told her the truth about her real father. And he, too, had someone he held dear cooped up inside with a cabal of dangerously stupid armed wannabe gangsters.

'Ideally, I probably shouldn't be actively involved in this operation, Susan, as your mother and I are old friends,' he confided in the young woman. 'But she asked for my help and I couldn't refuse her.'

Susan asked him candidly if he thought Bodie ought to be involved either, seeing as they themselves had grown close. She wondered if his affection for her might compromise his judgment or level-headedness.

George smiled and answered that one of the many good things about Bodie’s rescuing Susan first was that with her safely out of the line of fire, he was likely to think and act with a greater degree of calm and self-control than he might otherwise have done.

Meanwhile, Doyle had concealed himself behind a tree along the lane/drive leading to the house, where he watched as the one called Joe emerged from inside, clearly looking for his cohort, Mickey.

Ray had covered Mickey's unconscious body as best he could in the undergrowth of the shrubbery hedge and, thankfully, Joe did not spot him. As he went back inside cursing and muttering about the moron who had probably made a run for it (so he assumed) with the tasty bird, Doyle spotted the CI5 Operatives, led by Bodie, and the two local cops silently scurrying up the lane and ducking behind the trees for cover as they got closer to the house.

Although the law enforcement contingent technically outnumbered the villains seven to four, it was in practice more like four against three: Bodie, Doyle and two of their CI5 buddies versus the three yobs inside. One of Cowley's men had been left outside to keep guard over the prostrate Mickey, ready to muffle any noise the latter might make if he woke up; so, he would be otherwise engaged unless and until summoned.

The two police officers who were accompanying Cowley's team in a spirit of diplomacy and co-operation between London's Criminal Intelligence Bureau and the local Police Force, were unarmed and unused to hostage situations or fireworks. That essentially left CI5 to handle the situation, with George Cowley at the end of a radio transmitter.

Mindful that the villains were all carrying and that two civilians were being held hostage, the team decided that the safest course of action was to create a series of diversions to pick them off one by one, if possible. Divide and conquer. The last thing anyone wanted was panic shooting resulting in a potential bloodbath.

'Right, inside there's three of the toe-rags, none of them looking at all fit, but they're armed. We don't know precisely what pieces they've got, but from the description Susan Grant gave us, it sounds like medium calibre handguns, just pistols and/or revolvers, but she wouldn't know makes or models. Definitely no semis or machine guns, though, thank God.

'There's a tall, thin guy with a tash called Joe, who's sort of the leader, if you can call it that.'

'The better looking one is Vince. He's the lookout, so he's the first one we want to avoid being spotted by. Good thing is, he seems to be the least aggressive, so with a bit of luck, the least trigger happy.

'The one that took Mrs Grant upstairs to fetch jewellery and anything else he could get his filthy mitts on is called Gerry. He's short and dumpy, with greasy hair, and has been the most bolshie and mouthy.

'Sleeping Beauty lying in the bushes there, courtesy of Ray, is a lecherous sleaze ball. Let's make sure he stays the hell quiet.'

With that, and out of earshot of the occupants of the house, Bodie quietly finished his brief descriptions of the abductors, the layout of the house and where, according to Susan, each of the perps was individually located.

He knew they were hardly dealing with Club Mensa, but these buffoons, though undoubtedly nasty pieces of work, were not in the big leagues and barely posed a threat to CI5 Operatives, let alone to national security. But he also recognised that desperate men, especially stupid ones, often commit reckless and mindless acts, and he wasn't willing to play Russian roulette with the lives of Susan's family. It was a position with which his boss concurred.

'So, here's what I propose we do.' He laid out a strategy and asked each of his colleagues in turn whether they were in agreement, starting with his partner and friend, Ray Doyle. Bodie had been given unofficial charge of the logistical operation, headed ultimately by George Cowley, but this was a team effort and it was important that each member understand and embrace what they needed to do.

Ray agreed unequivocally, not because he felt obliged to publicly support Bodie in every detail, but because he trusted him and knew that even during his angry venting on the journey down, Bodie would know to do the right thing when the time came. He would work his heart out to protect the vulnerable and give no quarter to the cruel or vicious.

And besides, he was also a crack shot.

'Simon? Jim? You both on board?' asked Doyle. Like Bodie, he wanted them all to be in sync. The other CI5 agents nodded.

'Sure. Got it.'

'Okay, we all know what to do. Usual contingency plans. The boys in blue - no disrespect, lads - are going to stay outside, one by the front entrance, the other by the back door. Cowley is on R/T at all times and says the support people are on hand further down that lane or drive. No armed response unit - this is a country village and they don't exactly run to that - but extra beat cops, medics, etc.'

Doyle and Bodie made eye contact and nodded but did not smile.

'Right lads, let's do this,' said Bodie.


	5. Labour of Love

Tempting though it might have been for such men of action to burst into the various rooms of the Grant family home with guns blazing and drop the villains on the spot, such an enterprise would carry an unacceptably high risk to the "hostages". So, they would attack by stealth and outmanoeuvre the amateur gangsters.

Their primary goal, of course, had to be to secure Mrs Grant's and Neville's safety with as little risk to life and limb as possible. But an even better result would be achieved if they could also take the Regan family boys alive and get at least one of them to give up their puppet masters higher up the chain.

In order to minimise the danger to Neville and Mrs Grant, the three remaining perps would ideally be neutralised one by one. The CI5 team had not been equipped with silencers so it wasn't as if they could simply shoot the villains in turn. Any shots fired would make a hell of a bang, and the slightest noise from one quarter would invariably warn the others, presenting a real risk to the hostages.

Incredibly, it all turned out to be much easier than they'd anticipated. They followed the principle of "plan for the worst, hope for the best", but these goons practically walked into it.

As planned, the first mark was Vince. He was not with or beside either of the Grants and therefore did not pose an immediate danger to them. Doyle and Jim lured him to the front door with the old pebble trick and, having thus got him on his own, subdued him with a blow to the neck and watched as he fell noiselessly to the ground. They then moved his unconscious body out of sight and the accompanying policeman handcuffed him.

They knew it wouldn't be long before Joe started to wonder what had become of his lookout man, so they waited silently and expectantly for his inevitable appearance at the door as he went to investigate what was taking Vince so long.

They didn't have to wait long. After only about a minute, they heard Joe call out. 'What's happening, Vince? Is anyone out there?' Grunting impatiently, he got up to look out the window but couldn't see anything amiss. But after no reply from Vince, his suspicions were aroused and he sensed possible trouble.

He strode back hurriedly to Neville. 'I don't like the look of this. Here, come with me,' he growled. Grabbing him, he held his gun to Neville's head, shuffled to the open door and stepped out with him. He was about to call out again when he felt the muzzle of a gun against the back of his head and heard Doyle's voice telling him to keep his mouth shut and drop his own weapon.

Joe froze and Jim disarmed him. Observing that he was about to shout up to Gerry and warn him, Doyle punched him hard in the face and Joe buckled to the ground, out cold, as Vince had done. This time it was Jim who slapped on the cuffs and they gestured a shocked looking Neville to keep quiet. The danger to his mother was far from past.

In order to reach Gerry who was still on the first floor with Mrs Grant hunting for treasure, Bodie and Simon had crept in through the back door and up the old servants' staircase, whose existence and location Susan had described to Bodie. Recalling that the old vintage house had some typically creaky floorboards, he and Simon found this an added challenge and were gratified to be joined by Ray who had slipped upstairs straight after leaving the two unconscious thugs with Jim and the local plod.

Cautiously navigating the stairs and unfamiliar corridor, the trio followed the voices coming from one of the rooms and, as they crept closer, Bodie was disgusted to hear the loathsome Gerry shouting at Mrs Grant. 'Come on, you stupid old cow, there has to be more than this lot here! Neville says you're loaded!'

'I've told you,' she pleaded, 'I don't keep it all here. My best things are in the bank vault, in a safety deposit box. And we don't leave large sums of money lying around.'

Gerry was angry because, having taken far too long rifling through her possessions and stuffing them into a pillowcase, greedily convinced he’d find more loot, there wasn't an awful lot to show for it and it made him mad.

Convinced that she was stalling for time or playing games, he raised his gun and pointed it at her. As she gasped in fear, Bodie somersaulted into the room from one angle, followed immediately by Ray who shouted, 'Drop it!'. Gerry then pointed the pistol at Ray and Bodie shot him just below the shoulder.

Doyle held the badly shaken Mrs Grant as she put her hands to her ears, and Bodie apologised for what she'd had to witness. Meanwhile, Simon, who'd had some medical training, checked for a pulse on the injured man. 'Yep, got it. Seems okay, I think he’ll live.'

Bodie then R/T'd George Cowley at his position down the lane and relayed the news. '3.7 to Alpha, come in, please.'

Cowley was aware that the breaking of radio silence had to be a significant development. 'Alpha to 3.7, what's your position?' he replied.

'Hostages are secured, I repeat, the hostages are safe. Three men down, subdued but unharmed, the fourth's sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound to the upper body, but all our Operatives and police unhurt. The scene is quiet. It's over now, sir.'

'Well done, lads!' Cowley cried out, beaming at Susan. He gestured to the occupants of the other vehicles, the police back up teams and the medics, that they could now go ahead and proceed up the lane.

'I'll come up with the rest of the lads here and collect Neville and Margaret Grant,' he continued. 'I want the house sealed off, and there'll be a couple of ambulances for the casualties. Then you can stand down for the moment and come and see your girl, Bodie.'

Seated in the back of George Cowley's Mercedes, Bodie and Susan had as private a moment as circumstances would permit. Cowley had gone to the house with the rest of the support and back up teams, tactfully leaving the pair alone apart from a police constable who kept watch over them from a discreet distance, just in case.

As on the occasion when Bodie had shot Bauer's hired gunman - the masked intruder - in Susan's apartment, he was not asked to surrender his weapon.

Overjoyed to learn that her mother and brother were unharmed, not to mention the team who had liberated them, she trembled with emotion.

'Thank you so much, Bodie. I don't know what we'd have done without you, all of you. And _you_ ... that man who'd taken me outside, I thought he was going to - ' The memory left her quaking.

Bodie kissed her temple and hugged her more tightly. 'I know, love, I know,' he said soothingly, stroking her hair and thinking it was a damn good thing for Mickey that he hadn't touched her or his life might not have been worth living. 'I'm glad we could get there when we did,' he said simply.

Cowley had shown his softer side and given Bodie the rest of the day off to look after Susan, while he, George, would see to her mother's well being. Neville would have to remain with CI5 for de-briefing. The women could be spoken to in due course over the next couple of days.

'Let me take you home, Sue. I can stay with you as long as you want, or, if you think of somewhere else you’d like to go later on, I can take you there as well.'

Susan smiled gratefully. 'I'd better let them know at the office,' she said thoughtfully.

'Been taken care of,' Bodie replied with a reassuring smile. 'So, all you have to do now is concentrate on _you_.'

'You've thought of everything,' she said wistfully, feeling at a loss for words. She was very glad he didn't have to rush back to work; she certainly didn't feel up to being left alone so soon. She looked up at him and saw that his smiling face was full of tenderness and gentle sympathy. She brought out the best in him.

Instinct made her want to go back to her own place to touch base, but she wasn't sure she wanted to stay there, and she told him so.

'No problem,' he answered. 'Why don't we head home first for as long or as short a time as you like, and then we can always go somewhere else? My place even, if you wish. You don't have to decide now anyway, just play it by ear.'

She squeezed his arm. 'Yes, thank you,' she whispered with relief.

Back at her apartment later, Bodie poured them both a drink. Susan asked him what would happen next.

'Well, the villains have been taken to hospital to be checked over. Only the one I shot was really wounded, so obviously he'll have to stay in longer. I expect the others will be discharged pretty quickly and released into our custody where Mr Cowley's team of interrogators will want to question them at length.

'Your mother, like you, is free to go anywhere as soon as she's able to tell us what she knows, although I'm afraid the house has been cordoned off to be processed as a crime scene and she won't be able to go back there for a while. Your brother will have to help us with our inquiries for a bit longer. Sorry.'

'But why go to all that bother just to get a few thousand from Neville?'

'Those inept goons were only a minor part of the family business of extortion and so forth. I can't say too much at this stage, except that the thugs who abducted him were only the bottom rung of a larger and more dangerous organisation. It was already known to CI5, so catching them leaning on Neville was quite a coincidence.'

Susan was nonplussed. 'First me, now Mother and Neville,' she mused, shaking her head. 'The whole family owes you our lives, Bodie.' Her eyes welled up as her voice cracked with emotion.

'It's what I do,' he explained modestly. He cupped her chin with his hand. 'Now, don't take that the wrong way, Sue; you know how I feel about you and I'd have done it for you anyway - call it "a labour of love". But what I meant is that there's no need for you to feel indebted to me or to CI5.'

She smiled through her tears and leaned into him again. She knew for sure now that she loved him and part of her longed to tell him but feared it might still be too soon. But she would let him know one day.

Instead, she said apologetically, 'Oh dear, I've made a bit of a mess on you.' She pointed out a small blot of mascara mixed with tears on his shirt. Bodie examined it and chuckled heartily. He brushed a small strand of her hair off her lightly stained face.

'Oh Susan, always so poised and elegant, with hardly ever a hair out of place. No, don't be offended; I mean that in a good way. I like it that you can get a bit flustered at times, and I love the slightly ruffled look.' He fixed her a very appreciative gaze.

'I'm feeling quite flustered now, Bodie, the way you're looking at me,' she said half playfully and half bashfully.

'Then let me ruffle you for a bit?' he asked softly.

'Oh yes, please,' she whimpered, stretching her arms round his neck and kissing him more fiercely than he would have expected.

They spent the next few hours ruffling each other rather passionately until sleep finally overtook them.

Bodie marvelled at a side to Susan he hadn't previously experienced. He knew that fear and trauma often elicit heightened emotions, but even he was pleasantly surprised at the intensity of her response. The one other time they'd been so intimate had been a passionate experience, but in a different way; perhaps more imbued with the elements of novelty, discovery, and the sheer romantic thrill of rekindling a friendship.

On this occasion, there was greater depth of emotion.

When they next woke up, it was still the middle of the night. After Bodie had got up to answer a call of nature, Susan was afraid he might be leaving. 'Are you going already?' she asked.

'No, no, I just needed the loo. Don't worry, I'm here for as long as you need me. Or want me.' He climbed back into bed.

Nuzzling her neck, he said, 'We can go into work together tomorrow if that's alright. They'll want to ask you a few things about what you can remember, as well.'

'Mm, that's fine,' she purred. They were both pleased they would have more time together even once morning had broken and the working day had begun.

Susan pressed her body into him, happy and relieved to have more of him to look forward to.

Bodie could feel desire for her building up in him again and rolled on top of her. Susan responded accordingly and there was more mutual ruffling.

The following day, George Cowley had summoned the interrogation experts in the department, and they were interviewing in separate rooms three of the criminals involved in Neville's abduction. The fourth was in hospital under police guard, recovering from his gunshot wound. They were each to be charged with extortion, demanding money with menaces, kidnap, home invasion, unlawful detention and armed robbery. They were fortunate not to be charged with anything worse.

Gathering together the four agents of the previous day's "exploits", he commended them for their rapid response, clear thinking and successful rescue of Neville and Margaret Grant.

Susan, meanwhile, had been furnished with a steaming hot black coffee and escorted into a pleasant but informal room to be de-briefed. Thankfully, it was not at all like the austere interview rooms they used for questioning suspects and perpetrators. She was naturally tired after the traumatic events of the day before and her long night with Bodie, but not in any negative or debilitating way.

She told them everything she could remember, but had a question for them. 'Why did those men not try to hide their identities? They even called each other by their real names!'

A kindly female staff member named Kirsty, to whom she had been speaking, replied, 'Well, your brother already knew who they were, so even they probably reckoned there was little point in shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted. And to be honest, I don't think they're the sharpest knives in the drawer,' she speculated. 'Rumour has it that their "bosses" are furious with them; but please forget I told you that,' she added conspiratorially.

Susan smiled appreciatively. Of course she wouldn't repeat it and drop this nice young woman in it. She was grateful for the kindness and consideration shown to her and her family.

'Where is my mother now?' she asked.

'Oh it's alright,' Kirsty reassured her. 'She's being looked after by another of our staff. You should be able to see her again shortly. I don't know what arrangements there are for your mother once she's finished talking to us, though. You probably realise that she can't go back home yet.'

'Yes, I know, thanks.' Susan wondered if her aunt Rona could have her to stay for a bit, just until the house was released by the powers that be. She wasn't unwilling to have her mother stay with her, but her flat was so bijou that they would almost literally get under each other's feet. 

The Grant home would naturally need cleaning and tidying after all the trampling and rifling the yobs had done to it, but Susan and Mrs Jackson could help with that task and doubtless the devoted Mrs Bridges would also lend a hand. 

In the meantime, George Cowley had been liaising with his own bosses in the Home Office et al as they endeavoured to fit together the various pieces of the Regan family jigsaw they had so far. Cowley was confidant that two of the bungling kidnappers - who all turned out to be cousins of varying degrees of closeness - would spill the beans on what they knew of the workings of their extended family, including their less well-liked and more senior family members.

Around lunchtime, Susan was shown to a telephone where she was able to ring her mother's sister. 'Aunt Rona? It's Susan.'

'Susan, dear! This is a nice surprise. How are you, and how's your mother?' She sounded so like Margaret.

'Well, that's what I'm ringing you about. Mummy's fine but we've had some … intruders in the house and the police are having to keep everyone out, including the family, for a little while.'

'Oh no! That’s dreadful, dear. Do you mean there was a burglary?' Rona sounded quite shocked.

'Sort of,' replied Susan. She didn't want to get into it and the authorities wouldn't have wanted her to yet, either. And her aunt would have got even more upset at the real reason, so discretion was definitely the better part of valour in this instance.

'The thing is,' continued Susan, 'Mummy doesn't have a home to go to just yet and my apartment is so tiny, as you know. I'm sorry to have to ask, but is there any chance you could do us a huge favour and put her up for a week or so?'

'Of course, darling! But where is she now? Can I speak to her? You're sure she wasn't hurt or anything?' Aunt Rona's voice started to quiver.

'No, no, she's fine, I promise,' Susan assured her again. 'She's having a friendly chat … helping with enquiries, as they say. I'll have her call you as soon as she can.'

'Alright, my dear, thank you. Tell her she can come as soon as she wants to. I look forward to speaking with her soon. Love to you and Neville, too.'

'Thank you, Aunt Rona, you're a godsend.' Susan came away feeling very gratified that her mother would have a nice safe place to stay. Margaret got on well with her sister who was actually very similar, but they never bickered or rowed. Susan thought her mother should see more of her sister now that her husband was gone, and she was glad that circumstances, dreadful though they were, had forced the issue.

After making her phone call, Susan was shown to the canteen restaurant and was joined straight away by Bodie and Ray. Bodie insisted on paying for the meals, such as they were, and Ray magnanimously offered to fill in for Bodie for the rest of the afternoon, saying there wasn't anything more that couldn't wait till tomorrow.

'Are you sure, Ray?' asked Bodie. He thought his partner's generosity was a bit of a turn around for the books, considering Doyle hadn't seemed to approve of Susan to begin with.

'Yeah, it's fine, mate. You've done enough for now, and taken most of the risks. Besides, you probably saved me from getting shot. I'll see you tomorrow.' Then turning to Susan, he winked and said with a friendly smile, 'Don't let him lead you astray, though.'

Bodie snorted and countered with a cheeky grin. 'As if.'


	6. Home Sweet Home

'Surprise!' There was a chorus of welcome and good natured applause.

'Welcome home, Mummy!' beamed Susan, as she continued to gently hold her mother by the arm and guide her into the newly cleaned and tidied sitting room of her lovely house.

Margaret Grant gasped in astonishment and then delight as she looked around the room. She spotted her beloved sister, Rona, with whom she had been staying and who had been secretly whisked down separately by the now repentant Neville.

Also present were Bodie, George Cowley, Henry Laughlin, Ray Doyle and the Grants' favourite neighbours. Mrs Bridges and Mrs Jackson were also on hand to greet everyone and help serve drinks and nibbles.

As Mrs Grant chatted happily to Cowley and Doyle, Bodie greeted Henry Laughlin who in turn introduced himself to Rona and the neighbours.

Susan smiled to herself contentedly and cast her mind back over the last several days.

************

A week or so previously, Susan had returned to work - a few days after the shocking events at her mother’s home - and found Henry Laughlin being especially solicitous of her.

'How are you keeping, my dear? I didn't like to intrude earlier, but I couldn't stop thinking about you and the family.' He looked both concerned and forlorn. 'Such a ghastly experience for you.'

Susan smiled sweetly and assured him that she was fine and had been well looked after. She also silently reminded herself to ask Bodie his thoughts about bringing Henry into the family circle. She felt a strong urge to get to know him better and she appreciated Bodie’s willingness to be a sounding board.

She had always liked Henry as a colleague and friendly acquaintance, and now felt an increasing fondness for him since learning the truth. Not merely the fact that he was her natural father, but the extent of the personal sacrifices he had made for her happiness and safety throughout her life, from behind the scenes, as it were.

Henry was also essentially a lonely man who had never shared his life with anyone after the death of his wife and the relinquishing of his only child. He lived for his social and political causes and found a modicum of fulfilment in them.

It must have been a real source of satisfaction to witness the emergence of Susan's social conscience in her own right. Like father, like daughter perhaps, a chip off the old block. So how could he not care deeply about her well being?

'How's your ... mother?' He found that term a bit awkward seeing as it was his late wife who had actually been Susan's mother, but everyone knew what he meant.

'Oh, she's alright, thanks. She's been staying with her sister in Kent until the police have finished processing the house and let her move back in.'

Henry frowned slightly with the effort of remembering. 'I didn't know Margaret had a sister,' he replied.

'Yes, Aunt Rona is so similar to her, they're almost like two peas in a pod. Luckily, they get on like a house on fire and will probably be spending the whole time reminiscing about "the good old days". She's been on her own for years, so I expect the two of them will be good company for each other.'

'That's good. Well ... um ... please send her my best wishes,' he said rather shyly.

'Thank you, I will. And is everything alright with you ... Henry?' So surreal now, calling her own father by his first name, but since she'd always called him that and didn't even find out that he was her biological father until about five or six weeks ago, what else should she call him?

'Yes fine, thank you. Well, I'd better let you get on.'

Pouring herself a drink and switching on the television news in her apartment at the end of the day, Susan had continued to think about Henry Laughlin and her whole complicated family. Neville had had a seriously lucky escape from both his debtors and his debts; her mother was enjoying her visit with Aunt Rona; and Bodie ... well, Bodie was Bodie. She smiled at the thought of him.

She was shaken out of her reverie by the sound of the telephone ringing. She guessed it was probably either her mother or Bodie since the rest of her social circle consisted mainly of her friends from work, and she’d already spent the day with them.

'Hello?' she answered.

'Hello, it's me,' said the familiar voice. 'Everything alright?'

Susan grinned. 'Yes, Bodie, everything's fine, thank you. How are you?'

'Well ... I guess I could be better, if I'm honest,' he sighed.

She frowned. 'Why, what's wrong?'

Hearing the concern in her voice, he realised he'd worried her unnecessarily and instantly regretted it. 'Nothing, Sue, I was just having a little joke but it didn't come out well. I didn't mean to worry you. It's only that I'm missing someone very special,' he said in a light-hearted tone.

Susan smiled. 'Ah, I see. Anyone I know?'

'Hmm, just the most beautiful girl in London. No, make that the whole country, or maybe even the whole - '

'Oh for goodness sake, Bodie,' she laughed. 'What can I do for you?'

'What can you do for me?' he repeated in amusement. 'Now, where shall I begin...?'

She giggled softly. It was going to be one of those conversations, she suspected. 'Well then, how was your day? By the way, thank you for sorting things out for Neville. I mean really. It was probably more than he deserved, but I really appreciate it, and so will Mother.'

'You’re very welcome. He was actually very helpful and that goes a long way with us towards forging goodwill. Anyway, Susan, when can I see you again?'

'Whenever you like,' came the cheerful response.

'How about this evening?'

'Oh, alright; um, see you in about an hour or so?'

'Well,' confesssed Bodie, 'I'm sort of here now. In a call box outside your building. If you look out the window you might be able to see me waving.' Clearly, he was eager to be with her.

She began to wonder how long normal red-blooded male infatuation tended to last, since in reality her only other points of reference were her previous, rather drippy "milksop" boyfriends and admirers. She decided at any rate to enjoy it for as long as it did last.

Minutes later, Susan buzzed him into the building and opened her apartment door to him.

He looked delighted to see her but in a kind of sheepish way, rather like a schoolboy with a major crush.

'I hope you don't mind,' he started, wrinkling his nose. But she wrapped her arms around him, kissed him warmly and was clearly pleased to see him again already.

When they had sat down with drinks in hand, she mentioned Henry Laughlin to him as she had intended to.

'I'd like to have a little welcome home party for Mother when the house has been released back to her and is habitable again. I was thinking of inviting Henry. You're invited too, of course,' she added with a smile.

Bodie raised his eyebrows. 'Oh, the party sounds like a nice idea. What made you think of Henry?'

'He came up to me this morning and asked me how my mother and I were doing again,' she told him. 'I mean, obviously he'd already checked straight after the ... incident ... but he seemed to be inquiring a bit more deeply today. Then again, I can tell he's lonely, so maybe he just felt like having a chat.

'To tell you the truth, Bodie, I've been kind of feeling a desire to include him more in family things, such as they are. Not just because he's my real father and my adoptive one is gone, but because there was a connection there anyway. He and my father knew each other from Papa’s embassy days; Henry liked and trusted him, and that's why he left me in their care,' she explained.

Bodie looked at Susan appraisingly. Since the abduction/hostage incident the other week, she seemed a bit more family orientated. He presumed that the sudden prospective loss of them through unexpected circumstances may have been making her want to hold them a little closer. With his own parents deceased, he could understand that.

He reached his hand out to stroke her hair and she leaned into him again in that familiar way of hers that he loved. He wondered whether it was too soon to ask her what she might envisage her future to be; he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted for his own future, but he was pretty certain he wanted Susan to be a part of it.

He did let her know that the CI5 and Met enquiries concerning the various entities involved in the activities that culminated in the abduction of her brother and so forth were continuing apace.

Neville had been able to help them with the few things he had learned from his brief association with the Regan family. The interconnections reached wide and deep but were part of a confidential investigation, so he was not at liberty to discuss even the modest amount that he and Doyle had been told.

'Anyway,' he said, changing the subject. 'I'm hungry; what about ordering in some take away or something? Okay, I admit my eating habits aren't always the best, but such is the lifestyle of bachelors at large, like me,' he added, sighing playfully.

Susan was amenable. The salad she had prepared earlier was not only unexciting, it wasn't going to stretch far enough for two.

'Mm, that sounds good,' she concurred.

'I'll ring for it now, anything you fancy,' he said happily, hoping to finesse another romantic interlude with her afterwards.

'Sure. And I've even got a salad we can share.'

Later on that night as they cuddled up, Bodie broached the subject with Susan that had been on his mind a lot of late.

Moving onto his side to face her, he asked, 'How would you feel if we were able to see each other more easily?'

'How do you mean?' she asked, her curiosity piqued.

'Well, we do seem to spend a daft amount of time travelling back and forth across town to be with each other, so I wondered if there wasn't a better alternative. Hmm?' He paused, hoping she would be in favour of what he was about to say.

She wondered for a moment if he was going to suggest moving in together which, to her mind, would be a bit too much too soon. As it happened, he was of the same opinion and had a more sensible idea, at least for the time being.

'Yes, it would be nicer and more convenient to be able to cut down on the travelling time, that's true. Did you have something specific in mind?'

He nodded. 'The lease on my flat is up soon, and I was thinking that rather than renew it, I could maybe look for a place closer to here. I spend so little time over there anyway, I wouldn't even miss the neighbourhood. It would just save a lot of bother. What do you think?'

'I think it's an excellent idea, Bodie,' Susan enthused. 'Shall I keep my eyes and ears open for somewhere in this area?'

He leaned forward and kissed her happily. 'Yes, please. If we both keep a look out, we're bound to find something before long. I'd quite like to be as near as possible, if you think you could stand that,' he ventured.

'I think I could stand that,' she replied with a twinkle in her eyes. 'As long as you think you could too, Bodie. I'd never want there to be a case of familiarity breeding contempt with us.'

'Never,' came the forceful reply.

They didn't speak any more for the rest of the night.

*************

'It must be a great relief for you to have things back to normal now, Susan.' Susan looked up with a slight start from where she had been momentarily lost in thought, and saw the friendly, open face of George Cowley.

'Oh yes, indeed, Mr Cowley,' she agreed. 'And I must say I haven't seen my mother look this happy since before my ... oh ... father died.' Susan was suddenly acutely aware of Henry's presence at the gathering and felt awkward referring to Anthony Grant as "father." 'She must have really enjoyed her time with Aunt Rona.

'Come to think of it,' she added, 'Aunt Rona is looking pretty radiant herself.'

Mr Cowley's eyes crinkled as he smiled rather knowingly and replied, 'Well, I think we may be able to account for your aunt's glowing demeanour. Look.'

He gestured discreetly with his eyes towards Rona who was chatting away animatedly to Henry Laughlin. _Good grief,_ thought Susan, _is she flirting with him?? And is he flirting back?!_

Then they all circulated some more.

'Are you enjoying our little gathering? I'm afraid it's not exactly the kind of party you may be used to in the big city,' Susan asked Ray drily.

Joined a moment later by Bodie, she went on, 'It was good of you to come. But I know Mother was so grateful for everything you've done for her and Neville that I felt she'd have wanted you to be here for this.'

'Honestly, it's great, Susan. Thank you for thinking of me. By the way, your mother's roses should be blooming next spring if she's followed my advice closely.' Ray was grinning benevolently.

'Yes, how lovely, thank you.' Susan flitted off to the other side of the room to chat with the neighbours and Neville, with whom she'd been patching up their fractured relationship.

'You sound very domesticated, Ray,' said Bodie with a cheeky smile. 'Flowers that bloom in the spring tra-la and all that, eh?'

'Oh yeah, what about you then, Mr Tough Guy? Looks like you've finally met your match and been tamed by a classy young lady. Do I take it the man-about-town is now staying at home for good?' Ray responded sardonically.

'Not that it's any of your business, but - ' Bodie started, but got cut off.

'That never stopped _you_.' Doyle raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

'What?' asked Bodie, a touch defensively. 'I don't know what you mean.'

'You were never too shy to pry into _my_ love life, is what I mean.' He lowered his voice. 'Asking if I'd "scored" and stuff like that. Especially with Ann.' Doyle stopped at this point as the memory still left him with some lingering discomfort.

Bodie had the grace to look a bit chagrined as he remembered his incredible impertinence back then. 'Oh yeah, well, I suppose people mellow a bit over time, don't they?'

'So, how are things going between you? Getting serious?' Ray persisted.

'Well, we're not booking the church yet, if that's what you're wondering, but we are hoping to progress things a bit, if you must know,' said Bodie, quite matter of fact.

'I'm looking for a new flat near hers so we don't have to waste all our time going back and forth halfway across London. My lease is up at the end of the month; I'm glad I didn’t renew it when I got the first notification six weeks ago,' he confided.

Ray was impressed. He suspected the relationship with Susan was even more serious than Bodie was letting on, since the silly little sexist jokes and the flirtations with pretty girls had all but ceased ever since he started spending time with Susan.

'Have you found anywhere yet?'

Bodie hesitated. 'Yeah, kind of, but I haven't told her about it yet. I was going to put it to her when we got back this evening or tomorrow, and see what she thinks.'

'Intriguing. Well, good luck, mate. There's always Murphy's floor if you find yourself homeless, haha.'

The cheery little gathering went on for another hour or so. Mrs Bridges brought out some tasty party food and Mrs Jackson was happy to help with the serving and clearing up.

The neighbours bade everyone goodbye and assured their hostess and friend that they were there for her whenever she might want or need them.

Neville, who had quietly promised his mother he'd carry on faithfully with his Gamblers Anonymous meetings, departed after Cowley and Doyle had made their polite farewells.

Henry Laughlin gave Susan and Margaret each a gentle hug goodbye, having also arranged to see Rona some time in the near future. Rona would be staying on with her sister for a while, to enjoy a change of scenery and give Margaret some continued company.

Bodie and Susan arrived back at her apartment building in due course. Before ringing for the customary lift, Bodie took Susan's hand and gently pulled her towards a different one down at the other end of the entrance foyer.

'Oh, where are we going?' she asked, with a little start.

'Let me show you something before we go up, alright, Sue?' he answered.

'Hmm, okay,' came the muted reply. She was intrigued.

Bodie summoned the alternative lift and then pressed the button.

Alighting from it on the eighth floor, Susan remarked that they were on the same floor as her flat. This corridor, though, was the one adjacent to hers.

Bodie took a deep breath as he unlocked a door and they stepped inside an empty apartment. He really hoped she wouldn't be spooked by it.

Susan looked around, puzzled and uncertain. The flat was quite similar, though not identical, to her own. Frowning slightly, she inquired, 'Where are we?'

'Next door to your apartment, Susan. This is the empty one I searched that night you had the intruder that we ... I ... dealt with.'

'You mean the one who tried to kill you?' she gasped. 'But that you were able to shoot instead?'

'Yes; the group had used this empty apartment as an operating base because it backs onto yours. Remember the wall with the tiny hole they drilled? Well, it's all fixed up now, as you can see, and the owners have put the place back on the market for sale or rental.

'What do you think, Sue? It's certainly close (!), but it's obviously a completely separate self-contained apartment, so we'd still have our own private homes and personal space.'

It did occur to Bodie that the advantage of being right next door could potentially become a disadvantage if they were to fall out and/or split up, but right now he refused to entertain such a horrible notion.

Susan was absolutely stunned. It was the last thing she would have anticipated. She had put the existence (and erstwhile significance) of the empty next-door flat right out of her mind and thought no more of it.

Taking her in his arms with a mixture of tenderness and insecurity, he whispered, 'Please say you like it.'

Susan hugged him tightly and leaned her head on his shoulder. 'It's amazing, Bodie. It was inspirational to have thought of this.'

Bodie closed his eyes and said with emotion, 'I'm so glad you’re happy about it. Part of me was afraid you might hate the whole idea, not just because of the associations, but also the close proximity.'

'No, I don’t hate it at all, Bodie,' she murmured softly. 'In fact, I love it. And I love you.'


	7. The Christmas Girl

'So, when do you move in?' Doyle asked, as they cruised along the High Street in Bodie's Ford Capri.

'A week on Friday,' came the reply. 'Fancy helping out, then?' Bodie was kidding, of course, but he would probably have accepted a hand from Ray if he had offered it.

'Sorry, I'll be at the grindstone, remember? Some of us will be on duty, know what I mean?' Doyle answered with a grin. 'No seriously, I'll give you a hand with the unpacking on Saturday, if you like, after your furniture and main stuff is in.'

Bodie was impressed. 'Cheers mate, that's good of you. I was just joking really; the removal people will handle most of it and Susan and Neville are going to lend a hand over the weekend with the smaller things.'

Doyle whistled. 'What, Neville Grant?? I wouldn't have had him down as a Mr Get-Your-Hands-Dirty-and-Get-Stuck-In type.'

Bodie grinned. 'Ah, he's feeling guilty. Guilty and grateful, so he's having a shot at redemption. Susan says he's been good as gold these past few weeks, especially with their mother.'

'Mm. Just think, Bodie. One day he could even be your brother-in-law, haha!' Doyle had an impish grin on his face.

Bodie looked nonplussed. 'Sheesh, what a thought.'

'But you don't rule it out, then?' Doyle was prying and enjoying himself seeing how far he could push Bodie for an update on his relationship with Susan.

'Oi. I told you before, it's still early days, alright?'

'Well, you say that, Bodie, but here you are; practically living together, aren't you?'

'We are _not_ living together. Give it a rest, sunshine. I'm taking the flat next to hers - which is on a different corridor as well, mind - but we'll each continue to have our own space. That's not living together,' Bodie insisted, feeling somewhat irritated.

Doyle was amused at his partner's defensiveness. 'I see. So, how long have you got the flat for?' He figured Bodie would be renting, not buying it.

'I signed a six month lease, with an option to leave, renew or buy at the end of that. Call it a kind of trial period.'

'Eek, poor Susan,' said Doyle, in mock commiseration. 

'Hey, I'll have you know, she's pleased as punch about it, so there,' Bodie retorted, in mock indignation. 

'Right. Well, you're lucky then, mate. Good on you, both of you. I mean that.'

'Thanks, Ray.' The banter subsided for a while as the conversation took on a more sober tone.

'Joking apart, though. It is serious between you two, isn't it?'

Bodie’s jaw tightened only barely perceptibly as he affirmed it. 'Yeah.'

'I'm happy for you, then. Maybe a little envious as well, if I'm honest. Not in a bad way, just ...' Doyle's voice tailed off.

Bodie turned his head briefly to look at him. Ray was gazing out the passenger side window and appeared to now be in a somewhat pensive mood.

'Is it because of Ann?'

Doyle turned sharply and stared wide-eyed at Bodie. Then his features softened. 'Possibly,' he shrugged. 'Who knows?' was all he said in reply.

'Right, now, close your eyes and no peeking till I say. Okay?' Bodie had brought Susan to just outside his new apartment and asked her not to look until they were inside. Having been unable to take the day off work to be with him on this "moving day" due to last minute work constraints, this was the first time she would be seeing the apartment as _his_ place.

With Bodie leading her by the arm, she duly stepped inside, eyes properly shut as he had insisted, and found herself standing in his living room.

'Okay, you can open your eyes now.'

Susan opened them quickly and looked all around the room. 'Wow,' was the first thing that escaped her lips. 'You've done this really well. I must say I'm impressed.'

She was quite astounded at how homely it looked, and in virtually no time at all. Bodie didn’t have a vast amount of the usual furniture and possessions that make up a home, but what he did have, he had begun arranging very attractively in his new lounge.

He would continue unpacking and sorting out the other practical jobs over the following few days.

He stood there, absorbing it all and beaming with satisfaction. 'Thank you. I'm glad you approve. As always, there's bound to be room for improvement - and it probably wouldn't hurt to get a few more things to go in here - but I think it'll look good before long.

'Meanwhile,' he added, 'there are still boxes and a crate to unpack, mainly for the kitchen, but that can be done tomorrow,' he added.

Susan agreed. He'd done more than enough for one day. 'Yes, definitely. With a bit of luck, I imagine nearly everything could be more or less in place by Sunday night. Obviously, I'm here all weekend and evenings, and Neville can come over tomorrow to lend a hand in whatever way may be helpful.'

Bodie reckoned that they could probably manage more than adequately without her brother's help, but he realised that it would be a good character building exercise for Neville, albeit in a very small way.

'I'm not sure there will be much for him to do, to be honest. The removal blokes and I brought up the furniture and other heavy stuff, and I don't see him putting up bookshelves or plumbing in a washing machine, do you?' he asked, good-humouredly.

'Well, if nothing else, I expect he can always do some lifting and carrying of boxes, can't he? Let him work off his penance,' she suggested, only half-joking.

'Ahem, okay now.' Bodie cleared his throat for the next reveal. 'Come and see this.'

With that, he led Susan to the main bedroom. His brand new king size bed took pride of place, but there were tasteful night tables and matching chests of drawers, too. The wardrobes were built-in and had the benefit of not reducing the floor space.

'What do you think?' He gave her an appealing smile and said quietly, 'Of course, I'm hoping you’ll feel at home here.'

Blushing a little, she said she was quite sure she would. 'One thing I hope you will promise me though, Bodie.' 

'Mm, what's that?' he purred.

'Promise me you’ll use the normal ways to go back and forth between your apartment and mine? No jumping between balconies unless it's a matter of life and death?' 

She shuddered as she recalled the night of the shooting when he'd nearly missed his footing coming to her rescue.

Bodie chuckled and assured her that, barring a dire emergency, he would take the conventional route at all times. 'Don't worry, I'll be sensible. I won't do anything to jeopardise what we've got ... I love you, Sue.'

Then he slipped his arm around her waist and murmured, 'How about we try out my new bed?'

Bodie and Susan settled down to a happy routine vis a vis their living next door to each other. It would have been easy to have taken one another for granted or overdone the intimacy, but they found a rhythm of life that suited them.

They did tend to see each other nearly every evening, but they didn't always spend nights together and they gave each other enough personal space and freedom to socialise separately sometimes and/or even have weekends away with other (platonic) friends.

After about three months, when Bodie's lease was halfway through, he broached the topic of buying his flat. Susan already owned hers, but Bodie was renting his with the possible option of buying it, providing he gave the owner sufficient notice for it not to get offered to someone else.

The two of them were clearly getting on so well together that he thought it would be nice to actually own his apartment and thereby have a little more scope to make some adjustments, finances permitting.

'The thing is, I feel so at home here and with you, that I'd kind of like to secure it for the foreseeable future. As long as I'm just renting the place, there's always the chance that the owner/landlord could change his mind about selling it one day, or introduce new terms and conditions once the current lease expires.

'I'd like to, well, get things settled, if you know what I mean. You know, do away with any uncertainty. How would you feel about that, love?' he continued.

Susan was very happy at the prospect, not least because it was the clearest indication yet of Bodie's serious commitment to their relationship.

'I think it's a wonderful idea,' she enthused. 'Go for it.'

'Oh, brilliant. I'll ask the landlord soon, rather than wait the full six months. You never know, he might agree ahead of time, at least in principle.'

A few days later, they were delighted to learn that Bodie had got his wish and it would now simply be a matter of agreeing a price. The six month lease would almost be up by the time any exchange of contracts was completed anyway, so the timing was favourable. 

One evening, when Susan was in her living room, she could hear a tap on the dividing wall between her lounge and Bodie's. It made her jump a little, but thankfully Bodie called out her name immediately, so she knew it was only him.

'Can you hear me, Susan?' he asked.

'Yes, Bodie. I can hear you,' she replied, both relieved and amused.

'Hang on a minute, then. Alright to pop round now?'

'Of course.'

Within minutes she was letting him into her apartment and he looked like he'd had a brainwave.

'I've been thinking, Sue; when the purchase of my flat goes through in a couple of weeks' time, what would you think about having a pair of connecting doors between our apartments to create a bit more openness and ease of access?'

He knocked on the dividing wall. 'Right through here. We can still close the doors if - or when - we feel the need for some personal space, or if you've had enough of me.'

He studied her face expectantly, hoping he hadn't just put his foot in it.

Susan knit her brows together thoughtfully, stared at the wall in question, and finally delivered her verdict.

With a little tilt of her head and a knowing smile, she answered, 'It sounds like a very clever idea. Would we be allowed to do it? These apartments are not freehold, but leasehold, as you know, so we'd have to get the consent of the management company.'

'Um, I have a confession to make ... '

Susan smiled. 'You've already inquired, haven't you?' she guessed.

He grimaced. 'Do you mind?'

'No, of course not. Actually, I admire your efficiency,' she laughed. 'What did they say?'

'Just that it was okay in principle, provided we restore it to its original condition if/when we ever move, and with all the usual caveats about Building Regulations, etc.'

'Well,' declared Susan merrily, gazing out the window at the beginnings of the first snowfall, 'it looks as if it's going to be a very happy, cosy and communal Christmas!'

'I'll drink to that,' said Bodie, raising a couple of empty glasses that he had every intention of filling straight away.

The purchase of Bodie's flat went through remarkably smoothly and it only took the builder a few days to knock through the dividing wall and fashion a convenient doorway for them. This had the benefit of creating a more spacious double lounge area which they were both happy to share.

They hoped to celebrate with a combined house-warming and Christmas party for their friends and family during the holiday season.

On the third Saturday before Christmas, Susan suggested doing some Christmas shopping at the new mall that had recently opened.

The mall was predictably crowded, and when they managed to get a table in one of the little self-service restaurants, Susan sat down to secure it while Bodie went and queued up for the food and beverages.

While she was waiting for him to get back, she heard a voice asking, 'Would you mind very much if I shared this table with you? That is, if those seats aren't all taken?'

Susan looked up to see a very attractive woman of similar age to herself, with beautiful copper-coloured hair. She was holding a tray and looked rather flustered and harassed.

The woman continued apologetically, 'I'm sorry to ask, but this place is so crowded and it seems there aren't enough tables to go round. I've nowhere to put this down.' She indicated her tray of food and a drink.

'Oh, of course not, it's no problem. Please, have a seat,' Susan replied, with a friendly and sympathetic smile, gesturing to the spare chairs at the table. 'I don't mind at all. I'm just waiting for my ... boyfriend ... to come back with the food, but there's only the two of us and the table's big enough for all of us.'

The flame-haired woman smiled with relief and sat down. 'Thank you; that's very kind of you. I don't know what I'd have done otherwise. There's literally almost no place to sit at all.

'I didn't even know this mall existed until the other day,' she added.

'No, it's brand new. I expect that's another reason why it's so packed, as well as just being this time of year,' Susan agreed. 'I'm glad we haven't actually bought anything yet, otherwise it would have been even harder with our hands full of shopping bags.'

'Oh quite. I've been abroad, you see,' explained Susan’s new table companion. 'Working in America for the past year, and I haven't caught up with the latest local news yet.'

Although living in America, the woman was obviously British, so Susan asked her, 'Have you been back here long? Or have you just come in for the holidays?'

'Well, I got back last week. My father still lives here and I thought I might, um … visit ... him for Christmas.'

'Oh, how nice.'

The redhead sounded a little embarrassed. 'Yes,' she replied, tentatively. 'Anyway, I'm Ann. Nice to meet you,' she went on, and held her hand out.

Susan smiled warmly and shook Ann's hand. 'I'm Susan. Lovely to meet you, too.'

A moment or two later, Bodie finally collected their food order and carried it back to the table. His tray was heavily laden with plates of food and beverages for both of them, but he managed to skilfully navigate his way through the crowded cafeteria without dropping or spilling anything.

'Oh, good,' cried Susan. 'Here comes our food now. And my boyfriend, of course.

'Hi darling, well done. Sorry you had to queue for so long. Bodie, this is Ann. Ann's sharing the table with us because - '

Bodie let out a little gasp of surprised recognition. 'Ann ...Holly?! I don’t believe - '

Ann stared at him. 'I know you, don't I? You're Ray's partner, aren't you?' she responded, guardedly.

Susan was baffled. 'Do you two know each other, then?? Well, evidently you do...'

There was a momentary awkward silence until Bodie, genuinely wishing to be tactful, answered, 'Yes, Susan. Ann and I met last year via a … case... that CI5 were working on. Um … Ray Doyle was a friend...'

At this point Ann stepped in. Turning to Susan, she elaborated a bit more.

'Yes, it's quite a coincidence. I happened to meet Ray in the midst of a shooting in my apartment building and we … um … became close. But things got complicated because of the case that he and … Bodie here … were investigating and, to cut a long story short, I decided to accept the job offer in America that I'd received earlier. So, that was that. I haven't seen Ray since.'

Ann looked down at her hands, a wistful expression on her face.

Susan and Bodie exchanged glances, each of them thinking what a pity it was that things hadn't worked out between Ann and Ray. It certainly appeared to them as if Ann still had feelings for him, and Bodie knew that Doyle was very likely still secretly (or not so secretly) pining for her.

Susan, in particular, hoped they might be able to help the unlucky couple reconcile if the opportunity arose.

'Look,' she ventured. 'I know it's none of my business, and we've only just met, but would you like to come round to my … our... place for a drink and a chat? We'd be happy to help in any way we can, if that's not too intrusive.'

Bodie actually nodded in assent, which made Susan smile and love him all the more.

'Well, 'Ann hesitated, 'that's very kind of you.' She was unsure of the appropriateness of all this, but then reflected that it would be nice to have some friends in London, even if nothing came of things with Ray. And Susan definitely seemed nice.

She agreed. 'Thank you,' she said at last. 'That would be really great. I'd appreciate that.'

'Good! How about tomorrow evening, if that's not too soon?' suggested Susan.

'No, tomorrow sounds fine. Thank you very much.' The women exchanged names, addresses and phone numbers and, with that out of the way, they all carried on with their lunch and then proceeded along their various ways to tackle their Christmas shopping.

'I hope Ann is still coming,' said Susan, looking at her watch. It was only a quarter of an hour past the agreed time, but she was starting to fret a bit. She knew she was probably getting a little too invested in someone else's relationship, but she liked Ann already and obviously liked Doyle as well.

'Don't worry,' Bodie gently chided her. 'She'll be here, and even if she doesn't turn up, it's not really our problem, is it?' he reminded her. 'I mean, it's not as if we said anything to Ray, is it?' he added.

They knew that would have been a mistake at this stage, and they were glad they'd resisted the temptation to invite him too.

Finally, Susan's buzzer sounded, and she pressed it to let Ann into the building. She was up at the flat in a trice.

'I'm so sorry I'm late,' she apologised. 'The bus got stuck in traffic; I should have taken the tube, but the station was further away. Serves me right for being lazy!'

Susan smiled brightly. 'Oh, not to worry, it's not your fault. We're just relieved you found it alright.'

'Can I get you a drink?' Bodie offered. 'We've … I mean Susan's … got almost everything you can think of.'

Ann smiled gratefully and asked for a glass of wine. She looked at the two of them and then at the open doorway between their apartments. 'Do you both live here?' she asked politely.

'Sort of,' Susan answered. She looked at Bodie and he explained the situation, more or less.

'How lovely,' Ann exclaimed. 'And what an ingenious idea having the connecting door there. Sort of ... simultaneous togetherness and privacy, no?'

'Indeed,' Bodie affirmed.

At that moment, the telephone in his flat rang. 'Oh, excuse me for a minute,' he said, handing Ann her drink and then dashing into his own apartment to pick up the phone before the caller gave up.

Susan motioned to Ann to have a seat and to make herself comfortable. The two women, who had clearly taken an instant liking to one another, began chatting pleasantly.

Bodie, who had just answered his phone, spoke into the receiver. 'Hello?'

'Hi, mate, it's Ray. Are you doing anything this evening?'


	8. Full Circle

'So as you see, we didn't get off to the greatest start anyway... ' Ann Holly had just finished filling Susan Grant in on her brief but rather intense relationship with Ray Doyle when Bodie appeared in the doorway between the connecting apartments. Susan looked up at him with a questioning expression on her face and Ann's eyes followed her in turn.

'He's coming up,' Bodie announced resignedly.

'What?' Susan suspected he was referring to Ray and was not at all convinced that inviting him round was a good idea at this stage.

'I couldn't stop him, he just invited himself. Sorry,' Bodie shrugged.

Ann immediately guessed they were referring to Ray and asked, 'Do you mean Ray? Did you tell him I was here?' There was as much alarm in her voice as curiosity.

'No, I didn't. Not at all,' Bodie replied.

'Honestly, we never said a word to him about meeting you, I promise,' confirmed Susan.

'This is the first I've spoken to him since we met you at the mall yesterday,' Bodie insisted.

Ann asked, 'And he's coming up here? Now?' She was visibly shaken.

'I'm afraid so. I told him Susan had a friend round, but then he insisted that we could stay in my apartment and not disturb you two (though he didn't know it was _you_ , of course). He wouldn't take "no" for an answer.'

Susan sensibly suggested that they not make a big deal of it or Ray would be bound to suspect something strange was afoot. 'Look, we can just close the doors between our apartments there, and he need never know.'

'Unless at some point you decide you want to see him,' added Bodie perceptively, as he raised his eyebrows at Ann.

Ann nodded. 'Okay, that makes sense. Thank you,' she acceded gratefully.

After Bodie had disappeared into his own flat and shut his door behind him, Susan shut the door on her side of the opening and sat back down with Ann.

'What is it you're afraid of, Ann?' she asked gently. 'I can't help thinking you still care for Ray very deeply, but you seem so anxious.'

Ann looked down at the floor. When she looked up again, Susan could see that her eyes had misted up.

'I'm afraid he'll hate me now for running out on him. For seeming to reject him, although in truth I was really just rejecting his job. But that wasn't fair, either, because it's pretty clear that the job is an intrinsic part of who he is.'

Susan smiled knowingly. 'Yes, it's the same for Bodie. But it's good that you've understood that and can acknowledge it now. The question is, could you live with it in practice? Can you accept Ray for who _and_ what he is?'

Ann was nodded wistfully. 'Yes, I believe so. But I doubt I'll get the chance now; I think I've left it too late.'

'Never say "never," Susan reminded her. She then described to Ann the circumstances of her CI5-engineered meeting with Bodie and the subsequent twists and turns of it, complete with the danger and dramatic rescues and near misses.

'Hi, mate. Sorry to drop in on you so suddenly.' Ray Doyle was apologetic as Bodie answered his door to him.

Bodie replied with deliberate nonchalance. 'That's alright. You sounded like something was on your mind. Something that couldn't wait till morning - or did you just fancy some company?

'Anyway, have a seat and I'll get us some beers.' Bodie went to his kitchen and pulled a couple of beers out of the fridge.

'Cheers, Bodie. Thanks,' said Doyle appreciatively as he took the drink offered to him.

'Do you want a glass?' Bodie asked.

'Nah, don't bother, thanks.'

'That's what I thought. Bottoms up,' Bodie said, raising his can.

Doyle had actually been hoping for a guided tour of the couple’s recently joined up apartments, having previously only seen it amidst a pile of building rubble where the connecting doorway now was. But this was evidently not the occasion for it.

Gesturing to the conspicuously closed door between Bodie's living room and Susan's, Ray asked jokingly, 'So, has Susan really got a friend round or have you had a lover's tiff?'

Bodie turned his head abruptly towards the connecting door and stared at his partner. He hadn't thought of that possible excuse. Chuckling slightly, he replied, 'Ha! No, she really does have a friend round. You know, girl talk and all that.'

'Ah. Is she nice?' Ray inquired, eyebrows raised rather suggestively.

'What?'

'Susan's girlfriend. Have you met her? Is she a looker?'

Bodie felt inwardly exasperated by this pointless line of foolish questioning, although in fairness he would probably have made a similar remark just a few months ago had he not met and fallen in love with Susan.

'Come on, Ray, give it a rest,' he said simply.

Ray's eyes widened. 'Wow, that's a turn up for the books! It seems the playboy of the western world has got all domesticated and faithful now, eh?' The sarcasm in his voice was tinged with a hint of bitterness and envy.

Bodie sighed. 'For your information, I may have liked the ladies but I was never unfaithful when I was in a serious relationship with one.'

'Okay, whatever.'

'Look, I realise that with Christmas coming up it's a lousy time to be on your own,' Bodie ventured.

'Gee, thanks for reminding me. Rub it in, why don't you? That's cheered me up no end,' Ray retorted.

'No, what I meant was … ' Bodie took a deep breath. He had to be careful what he said or he'd be in trouble with both Ann and Susan for revealing a confidence he'd not been given permission to disclose. 'What I meant was, why not consider getting in touch with someone who’s been special to you already?'

'Huh?'

' _Ann_ , you fool! I'm talking about Ann Holly. Have you made any attempt to contact her in America?'

Doyle stared at Bodie as if the latter had lost his mind.

'How the hell am I supposed to do that? She didn't exactly leave a forwarding address, you know. Anyway, she made it very clear what she thought of my - _our_ \- job, in fact, and she’ll probably never forgive me or CI5 for checking her out.'

'"Never" is a long time, Ray.'

'You trying to say there's hope?' Ray still sounded sceptical, but at least there was a touch less cynicism in his voice now.

'There's always hope,' answered Bodie quite seriously. Then, to lighten the mood, he said, 'Look at me, after all,' and burst out laughing.

Doyle snorted. 'True. If you can find someone nice who'll put up with you, anyone can.'

Bodie lifted his can of beer. 'To me, then,' he toasted, and they both laughed.

Susan was uncharacteristically jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. It was the day of their housewarming/ Christmas party and she wanted everything to go smoothly.

'It'll be fine, Sue, you'll see,' Bodie reassured her, as he helped with carrying in the food and setting up the drinks table, etc.

Susan couldn't help feeling that even with both of their apartments opened up, there still wasn't room for much of a crowd. They had invited her mother and Aunt Rona, Neville, Henry Laughlin, Ray and Ann. But she was mainly on edge about the latter two, feeling somewhat responsible after persuading them to meet up again.

She was glad that Ann had agreed to see Ray again for the first time since they'd parted, but she was still rather wary of him. With Ann's agreement, Bodie had broken the news to Doyle of their chance encounter at the mall, and of Susan's making friends with her.

After a rather explosive initial reaction from Ray, he had calmed down sufficiently to accept that the extraordinary coincidence of their meeting Ann had been genuinely innocent, with nothing underhanded about it, and almost sheepishly admitted that he would like to see Ann again if she was willing.

('Oh, thanks a lot mate, when were you planning on telling me?!' had been Doyle’s first response. 'When we’re old and grey and she's married to someone else?? And how come it's _you_ she manages to see first, and not me? I was the one she was involved with!'

'Hey, don’t shoot the messenger!' Bodie had retorted in his own defence. 'I can't help it if the mall was so crowded that people had to share tables. It was Ann who approached Susan while I was getting the food. I wasn't even there when she sat down and they started nattering. No one's trying to interfere in your love life, Doyle.'

'Yeah alright, sorry,' Ray had conceded.)

Both Ann and Ray had anticipated the obvious awkwardness that a potentially emotional reunion in front of even a small group of onlookers would produce, and had arrived (separately) half an hour or so earlier. Ann went to Susan's apartment and Ray to Bodie's, at first.

Relieved that the pair weren’t likely to come to blows or anything disastrous, Bodie and Susan left them alone in her flat for some privacy, while they continued getting things ready in Bodie's. Ann and Ray would later say that it was possibly the best heart-to-heart conversation of their lives, at least up until then.

A few minutes later, the downstairs bell rang and they buzzed in the first of their other guests. It wasn’t long before the remainder arrived, and within minutes they were all perusing and admiring the double apartment of sorts that Bodie and Susan had fashioned for themselves.

'Darling, what a wonderful job you've made of this,' enthused Margaret Grant. 'How clever you and Bodie are.' Her eyes twinkled and she leaned forward and whispered something in Susan's ear.

'Oh, Mother,' came the predictable response. But for all her no-nonsense approach (especially with her mother), Susan looked quite flustered.

Bodie witnessed this exchange between mother and daughter, and he also noticed that Susan's face had reddened a bit. He hazarded a private guess as to what it might have been about, and smiled to himself. He would bring up the subject later when they were alone.

'Aunt Rona, I'm so glad you could come.' Susan was pleased to see her aunt looking so well.

'I came with your mother, darling. She's been an absolute angel letting me stay with her, although I like to think I've been some company for her, too,' Rona replied.

'Of course you have! Mother couldn't have survived without you. She tells me you're selling your house in Kent and moving much closer to her. That will be a godsend to you both.'

Rona beamed and leaned in conspiratorially towards her niece. 'There's something else I’ve been wanting to tell you, dear,' she whispered. 'I hope you won't mind, but Henry Laughlin has been ... ahem ... calling on me these past few weeks. I really like him. I hope you don't think that's awful.'

Susan was stunned. The notion of her (adoptive) aunt, Rona, with her natural father, Henry, was enough to make her head spin. She was also vaguely amused at her aunt's using the quaint expression "calling on." Very old school.

'I don't mind at all, Aunt Rona,' she averred. 'I'm amazed at how things have been turning out, but I'm delighted for you.'

'Thank you, darling,' Rona said sweetly. 

Susan must have been looking a bit odd because Bodie noticed her from across the room and hurried over to her side.

'Are you alright, Susan? You look a bit like you've seen a ghost.'

'No, I'm fine, honestly.' She gazed up at him affectionately. 'Thank you,' she added, with heartfelt appreciation. 

'Alright, come with me while I fetch some more food and you can tell me there, okay? he suggested. She followed him into his kitchen and told him what her Aunt Rona had said.

'I suppose it's no big deal really, and it's not as if Henry's ever been a real father to me, but it just feels kind of ... weird,' she said.

'Oh, and I also think my mother has a huge crush on your Mr Cowley,' she added. 'I can tell.'

Bodie raised his eyebrows and made a face. 'Eww, what a thought,' he gulped.

'Well, they have known each other forever, I suppose. At least he and my father (Anthony, I mean, not Henry) were thick as thieves, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.'

'Has Cowley shown an interest in your mother, then? '

Susan shrugged. 'I've no idea. Nothing's been said. Perhaps Mother is suffering from unrequited love.'

'Oh dear. Never mind, let's concentrate on _us_ today. By the way, what did she say to you that seemed to rattle you? Just now, before your aunt spoke to you.'

'Um ... oh, it was nothing,' she responded, with a dismissive wave of her hand. In truth, she was very reluctant to let on to Bodie that her mother had asked when he was going to "make it official." And at any rate, she was more concerned at the moment to find out how the star-crossed lovers were getting on.

'Let's go back in,' she said. 'I want to see how Ray and Ann are doing.'

Bodie nodded. 'Yeah, good idea.'

As they entered her living space, they saw Ray and Ann in rapt conversation, gazing into each other's eyes and seemingly oblivious to their surroundings. 

Susan sighed with relief. It was going to be alright, after all.

****************

'You look absolutely gorgeous, Ann, stunning! And what a beautiful service. It brought tears to my eyes,' said a radiant Susan on a warm June day, some seventeen months after the little pre-Christmas housewarming do.

Ann was quite choked up as she embraced her friend even more tightly. 'I owe it all to you, Susan. You and Bodie,' she said, her voice cracking with emotion. 'The best day of my life.'

The only source of regret for Ann was that her father had not been allowed out to attend the ceremony. They had not had much of a rapprochement, but her visits to him in prison did elicit some softening of his attitude. She held out hope that one day he might genuinely care for her, but only discovered that he did following his death; he bequeathed her the residue of his estate (after asset forfeiture).

Bodie smiled with almost brotherly affection as he gently shook his head. 'We were just fortunate enough to meet you and maybe facilitate the reunion with Ray. The rest was down to you two. We can't take credit for that.' 

He looked across the hotel's Grand Function Room and saw his best friend and partner greeting his guests and looking happier than Bodie had ever seen him. He thought of that corny old romantic storyline: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Bodie nodded to himself; yes, marriage was going to suit Raymond Doyle.

The latter glanced round in Bodie's direction, caught his eye and headed over to him. 'Hey, great Best Man's speech, thanks,' he said with a hearty laugh. 'A bit rude about me, but a good speech otherwise,' he joked.

'Yeah, I was trying to be polite, actually,' replied Bodie, drily. Doyle guffawed, shook his head and wandered off to "mingle" some more.

'You did very well, Bodie, I must say. I never realised you had the gift of oratory,' teased his boss, George Cowley, who had walked up to him. He leaned forward and said something quietly in Bodie’s ear, which took the young man by surprise.

Shortly afterwards, the dancing started, followed by the customary disco.

While they were dancing to a slow number, Bodie whispered in Susan's ear, 'You know, George Cowley just said you were the best thing that ever happened to me.'

Susan was taken aback. 'How would he know?'

Bodie's eyes twinkled. 'Oh, believe me, he knows.'

Susan stared at him but he only gave her an enigmatic smile in return.

'Ah, what a wonderful day,' Susan purred much later as they snuggled up in the big bed of their comfortable hotel room.

'Hmm, it has been,' agreed Bodie. 'Happy?'

'Oh yes, and absolutely thrilled for them. They were so obviously made for each other. And weren't we all lucky with the weather?'

Bodie loved her enthusiasm for others' happiness. He was all too aware that he had not yet popped the question, and he sometimes wondered whether it bothered her. She had struck him as so independent-minded and devoid of self-pity that he'd assumed she would probably be content either way. He certainly hoped she never felt he took her for granted.

'You do know I love you, don't you?' he ventured.

She snuggled into him more closely. 'I love you, too, William.'

Bodie chirped. 'Why did you call me that?' he asked with a chuckle. 'You hardly ever do.'

'Maybe it makes me feel particularly close to you; because I know no one else is allowed to.' She tilted her head up and smiled into his face.

'I only like hearing it from you. In private, of course.'

'Of course.'

Bodie grew a bit pensive. 'When Ray was first getting really serious about Ann, Cowley insisted that none of his men could marry without his permission, and that any person they might want to marry would have to be approved by him.'

'That's why Ann had to be investigated, wasn't it? Because her father was in their sights?'

'Yes, and it would have been fine. She was actually cleared before she went to America. But … the reason I'm mentioning this is that Cowley also said to me - rather scathingly, in fact - that such a situation was unlikely ever to affect me.'

'Meaning he didn't think you'd ever be matrimonially inclined?' Susan wondered if this was Bodie's way of breaking it to her that she shouldn't get her hopes up about his ever hearing wedding bells just because their closest friends had tied the knot.

'Yeah, primarily. But he probably also meant that no woman in her right mind would ever want to marry me, either.'

Susan frowned. Where was all this leading to, and what exactly was he trying to tell her?

Bodie took a deep breath and continued. 'I hope he was wrong on both counts.'

A light of realisation dawned on her. She looked intently into his eyes and found them gazing directly back into hers with unusual intensity. Stroking her cheek tenderly, he murmured, 'I think you understand what I'm saying?'

She nodded slowly. Edging his face closer to hers, he spoke in a whisper. 'I love you, Sue. Will you make an honest man of me?'

****************

'Come on kids, lunch is ready! Your mums are about to bring out the rest of the food from the kitchen, and the barbecue stuff is cooked. Now, who's ready to tuck into all these goodies?'

There were delighted squeals of "me, Daddy!" and "I am, Uncle Bodie!" and so forth.

'Alright then, everyone, line up here, hold out your plates, and your uncles and I will serve you with the delicacies of your choice. Oh, and no giving it all to the dog or he'll be sick.'

The children giggled and fidgeted as they waited for the adults to fill their plates. Martin and Patricia Doyle, Lewis and Sheila Bodie and little Simon Grant practically grew up together and interacted as one big extended family unit.

And so it was on a glorious afternoon in late Spring that Bodie, Ray and Neville were manning the barbecue while Susan, Ann, Margaret Cowley, Rona Laughlin, and Jackie Grant (Neville's wife), were taking the various accompanying dishes out into the lovely large garden of the Bodies' house.

Henry Laughlin and George Cowley, who were getting on in years, had been placed under strict orders to take things easy, so they sat relaxing in the shade of the garden's magnificent oak tree, contentedly watching and chilling out.

A bevy of happy, boisterous children, all under the age of twelve and full of beans, raced about on the lawn, playing tag/chase, kiddie football and hide-and-seek. 

It was a joyous day and there were to be many more such occasions over the years for the once motley crew. As Susan emerged from the house, carrying a potato salad to add to all the other dishes on the long food table, Bodie put his arm around her and surveyed the scene with a thankful heart and serene contentment.

Yes, being with Susan was definitely the best thing that had ever happened to him. He had once regarded her as a bit of a "loner" and himself as a kind of "lone wolf," but getting together had been the making of them both.

He raised his glass of beer to her as he had done many years before on their first "date" in the "Chinese Garden" restaurant.

'Here's to the girl who changed my life.'

Susan smiled and lifted her glass. 'Here's to the guy who saved mine.'

They clinked glasses. 'To the future.' 

Epilogue 

Two grey-haired men on the cusp of senior citizenship surveyed the scene. The garden had been temporarily taken over by a marquee, and all the beloved familiar faces in their lives - plus a fair few more - were milling about, laughing, chatting and cooing over the newest member of the family.

'I can't believe they've actually done it,' muttered William Bodie, in mock dismay.

'What do you mean, old man?' asked his erstwhile partner and lifelong pal, Raymond Doyle. 'It was hardly a secret that they were together all this time,' he added. 'In fact, I seem to recall your walking Sheila up the aisle and "giving her away" to Martin,' he ribbed.

'Yeah, that was bad enough, making us co-in-laws. Now, with this baby, they've only gone and joined us by blood.'

'Ugh, when you put it like that...' groaned Ray.

'Quite,' concurred Bodie.

'Still, it could be even worse,' Ray added sardonically.

'Oh yeah, how? What could be worse than being a co-grandparent with you?'

'Well, if Lew and Patti ever ....'

'Argh!! Just shoot me now, why don't you??'

'There you are, you pair of old curmudgeons!' exclaimed Susan, as she and Ann entered the room overlooking the garden in which the "boys" had taken refuge. 'What are you doing in here? We’ve been looking all over for you. The kids have started fretting about you, as well.'

'Don't worry love, we've just been consoling each other over the misfortune of finding ourselves related for life,' replied Ray, with deadpan expression.

Ann giggled. 'Oh, you two! You never get better, do you?'

The pair looked at each other and Bodie burst out laughing. 'No,' he cheerfully agreed.

Susan smiled indulgently and shook her head slightly. 'To family,' she whispered under her breath.


End file.
